Joerg Andersch, Etchings of Tasmania The Mercury, 11 August, 2007

Etchings of Tasmania
Colville Street Art Gallery, Battery Point
Price range: $930 to $3840

Painter and printmaker Jeffrey Makin continues in his search for the very essence of the Australian landscape, as revealed by his work at the Colville Street Art Gallery.

Like the late, legendary Fred Williams, Makin excels in the art of printmaking, yet both of their reputations rests on their painting prowess. Similar to Williams, Makin’s search for the essence of our landscape has become a magnificent obsession, and the benefit lies with the public.

In this exhibition we find a two-fold display: the Australian Felix series and the purely Tasmanian work.

The Australian series is a portfolio of 10 etchings made up of images the artist identifies as being quintessentially Australian.

There are 14 etchings in the Tasmanian series of what the artist sees as typical of our state and, unlike the mainland series, there are quite a number of coastal aspects.

Makin, like Williams, has the wonderful ability to elicit the essence of a scene with an absolute minimum of marks. His light touch is remarkable, yet he will take the same plate through several processes to deepen tones and offer a totally different mood from the same scene.