Wrencher, an accomplished North Coast artist, is placing the finishing touches to his latest collection of work for his forthcoming exhibition to be held at Sibella Court’s The Society Inc. Warehouse in Sydney as I arrive to talk to him.  From the outset visiting his studio in the Byron Bay Hinterland it is obvious friends, family and nature are essentially important to this artist; the 68 acres set on picturesque Friday Hut Road is home to Wrencher, his wife Jane and their four children and Wrencher’s brother Luke, his family and Wrencher’s parents also co-habit on this very special piece of land.

Wrencher loves working from his verandah studio which looks across the open land and way beyond to the Night Cap Mountains. “I like my studio being part of our home, part of our life,” he says. “I can paint when the inspiration moves me and then when I’ve finished or am between a stage of the work I can go and do some manual labour on the land and return. My art is not separate from my life – and it is not separate from me.”

Having lived in both London and Sydney Wrencher appreciates the unique splendour and tranquillity of the far north coast’s natural beauty, and as a surfer he values the ever changing moods of the seascapes which surround him. “Every day is different and the moods and light at each time of the day change on both the land and in the sea,” he says. “These differences form the layers and distinctions within each of my paintings. I paint in oils because for me they do justice to the depth of contrasts I see and feel.”

Charly Wrencher, Wish, oil on canvas, 2.00 x 1.5m

For Wrencher life is inspirational and he finds within his art, his family, community, surfing and his surrounding landscapes a unity that reflects, for him, the interconnectedness of everything.  “I leave nothing out of my paintings,” he says. “They explore all the emotions and the aim is to embrace all of what I see and feel. I don’t aim for life’s perfection in my paintings – I aim for resolution. Nothing is ever perfect but all elements can finally find some resolution – a completion before the next cycle begins.”

Wrencher uses cellular memory not photographs when he paints. His personal experience of the land and seascapes at every time of day creates a lyricism to Wrencher’s work, an evocative hum that consumes you if you stay long enough with each painting. Light, texture and mood change as your eye wanders across the entire landscape. Rich, layered oils of contrasting shades ripple with a magical lustre, then dive into darkness only to come back once more into iridescent light.

Viewing Wrencher’s paintings I felt as if I was peering into unseen territories within bushes and trees, hills and river beds and then into the magical expanse of the night sky reflected in the shadowy blue of a morning sea at Broken Head. Poetry can be transcendent  and Charly Wrencher is a poet with oils.

Wrencher told me that there’s a certain synchronicty with his art and that if he imagines something, he then often sees it. “Like this painting of the groper,” he tells me. “I imagined the groper first then within days I saw this beautiful groper while surfing at Tallow.” He also says that he likes to leave unfinished areas in his painting to draw the observer into an imaginative space of their own resolution.

I ask Wrencher if he has any advice for young artists. “Learn your craft, study, practice and refine your art,” he says. “You need the basics first – study them until they are a part of you and then find your own style and expression,” he answered. Having trained at Sydney’s National Art School, Wrencher  went on to spend years studying life drawing and working with other art mediums until he found his expression in painting with oils.

Charly Wrencher: Photo: Kim Carey

Before I leave, Wrencher and Jane invite me to take a closer look at their property. The land flows down through coffee bushes and trees to a stream complete with waterholes and waterfalls. As we walk, Jane points to an old Tallow tree  “We often get koalas nestling in the branches.” We all look up and laugh. There in the fork of a huge old gum tree a sleepy koala snuggles blissfully.

Right on queue Bodhi, the small and noble Lhasa Apso who guards and protects the Wrenchers home and family appears – smelly, brown and proud after rolling in cow poo. We laugh again. Life presenting life in all its perfect imperfections and this beauty and contrast of life is what Charly Wrencher captures in his paintings.

Charly Wrencher’s forthcoming exhibition is September 17 – October 10, at Sibella Court’s Society Inc warehouse, Suite 302, Precinct 75, Mary Street, St. Peters, NSW.

Charly’s work can also be viewed locally at Barebones Art Space, Bangalow and The Art Piece Gallery, Mullumbimby.

Visit www.charlywrencher.com.au

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