Patrick John Pearson

Oil on Canvas, 120 cm x 180 cm

‘Winter Song’ is a dynamic and flowing interpretation of the bark patterns in the trunk of a large river red gum in Mitcham. Rich pearlescent white cascades like ice flow across seams of dark raw umber, and meets spills of ultramarine blue and turquoise green, with flares in tones of crimson alizarin, hinting at the figures in the trunk’s markings: the warm nude, the cool nude, the monitor lizard, the duck, the platypus, the tadpole, the dingo, the antelope, the buffalo, the humpback whales, the magpie, the coot, the frog, the bumblebee, the turtles, the bowerbird … you’ll think I’m making it up until you see them too.

$4900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas, 120 cm x 180 cm

‘Spring Song’ is a light and bright interpretation of the life marks on a portion of the trunk of magnificent sugar gum in Angas Gardens in North Adelaide. Deep cobalt blues alongside rich burnt sienna shimmers into a pearly almost-white, to reveal human, animal and bird forms delighting in the return of Spring after the depths of Winter. See if you can find the lizards, the elephants, the almost-invisible nudes, the turtles, the kangaroos, the osprey, and the other just-glimpsed, half-imagined shapes that the tree's patterns suggest.

Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide.

$4900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas, 120 cm x 180 cm

Nature and the weather draw patterns and marks on the bark of trees that give us indications of the life the tree has led. And those patterns and scribbles and scars are interpreted by the human brain as shapes and faces recognisable to us – Da Vinci pointed this out around 500 years ago. ‘Summer Song’ is a glorious and joyful celebration of the markings on a portion of the trunk of a huge sugar gum tree in North Adelaide – the interplays between rich ocean blues, velvety turquoise tones and sunny Naples yellows reveal human forms and dolphins and seals, kingfishers and seahorses, bandicoots and lots more.

$4900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas, 150 cm x 100 cm

‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ is a delightful exploration of the marks and patterns on a big river red gum tree in Unley Park, using shades of pale Naples yellow, raw sienna, and infusions of burnt sienna and olive green. There is a wonderful energy in the artwork, and a host of forms to discover, though they are hinted at rather than explicitly revealed: curlews, crows, albatrosses, kangaroos, quolls, platypuses, potoroos, storks – ah, and some human forms, dancing while bathed in moonlight.

$3900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas, 150 cm x 100 cm

‘Fire Dreams’ is one of several explorations in different colours and at different times of the fascinating markings on the lower trunk of a huge river red gum tree on the Oval of Scotch College in Torrens Park. Fiery cadmium oranges and yellows merge into muted olive greens and mauve-violet markings to create memorable scenes: there’s an Australian bustard making a glimpsed appearance, a Tasmanian tiger, a seal, a platypus, turtles, a koala, birds galore, an elephant, kangaroos … see how many you find. Ah, and there’s the beginnings of a nude there also.

$3900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas, 150 cm x 100 cm

‘In the Flow’ is part of a series of explorations in different colours and at different times of the gorgeous markings on the lower trunk of a huge river red gum tree on the Oval of Scotch College in Torrens Park. Winsor and ultramarine violet patterns on a background of cobalt turquoise tones which are interspersed with flashes of winsor yellow create scenes where creatures and humans make flickering appearances: turtles, koalas, kangaroos, cockatoos, emus, a leafy sea dragon, a dingo, platypuses, and more. As well as the scribbly worm that leaves its mark on the gums.

$3900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas, 100 cm x 150 cm

‘Elephant and Giraffe’ is an abstract interpretation of the markings on the trunk of a river red gum tree in Millswood near the dog-walking park, and in a calmly sensuous mix of turquoise cool and burnt sienna warm tones it presents a feast for the investigative eye: there are several koalas, ravens, gulls and albatrosses, human nudes, turtles, as well as at least one elephant and giraffe. And if you find the elephant and giraffe, take the challenge one step further and try to find a second giraffe – she is there, if you’ll search.

$3900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas, 150 x 100 cm

An abstracted close-up portrait of the bark of a river red gum at Brownhill Creek Trail in Adelaide. Shapes and forms of creatures suggested by the patterns of the bark reveal human female forms, iconic Australian animal species such as Tasmanian tigers, dingoes, platypus, kangaroos and koalas, as well as butterflies and countless birds.

$3,900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas in Floating Oak Frame, 150 cm x 100 cm

‘Eve’s Vision’ is an abstract interpretation of the markings made by nature and time in the trunk of a river red gum on the Currency Creek waterfall trail, using splashes of burnt umber and raw umber infused occasionally with deep alizarin crimson to bring out the colour of the patterns in the tree, and a background of widely varying shades of phthalo turquoise – super light and almost white through to rich, deep, but not dark. The patterns reveal watchful kangaroos, wallabies, lizards, turtles and lots of birds, from wrens to albatrosses – and a subtle hint at a nude or two, plus lots of other creatures to find in a dynamic yet relaxing painting.

$3900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas in Floating Oak Frame, 122 cm x 122 cm canvas size

‘Owl’s View of the Wood’ interprets the colours and markings in the trunk of an old plane tree in London. Owl shouldn’t be too hard to find – he’s just in front of turtle, and turtle is just in front of wombat, though our view of wombat is being crowded by cockerel. Owl’s view is best. He’s watching crake, and the lost labrador who jumped into the lake covered in green algae, the buffalo, the ostrich and the curious emu, the galah looking disinterested, and the confused almost-man wondering if he should escape his box. Owl’s not confused. The colours and markings on the trunks of trees tell us stories – it’s a joy to read them.

$3900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas in Floating Oak Frame, 122 cm x 122 cm

‘Wild Things’ records the colours and scars and markings on a magnificent old river red gum in the Barossa. Against a vibrant and almost glowing background palette of light shades of raw sienna, pale naples yellow and pearlescent white, the markings in raw umber, burnt umber and phthalo turquoise paint a scene where shapes and forms and faces begin to emerge, if the viewer looks deeply enough. See if you can find the kangaroo, the platypus or sea-otter (it could be either), the butterfly, the nesting crake, the gecko, the curlew at evening, the Highland cow, the leafy sea dragon, the two separate groups of cliff-dwelling seabirds, the sparrow’s head, the shy dingo, the shaggy European bison, the almost-impossible-to-find nude approaching the turtle and the white-feathered petrel chick, the dingo emerging from the tall grass, which is ignoring the penguin behind it, the kangaroo wondering whether it should stay put or jump. We all see what we want to or need to see in Nature’s patterns, as Leonardo da Vinci explained over 500 years ago.

$3900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas 135 x 200 cm

This is the second big abstract inspired by the forms and shapes in the patterns on the trunk of a particular old sugar gum tree in Angas Gardens in North Adelaide, South Australia. As Leonardo da Vinci pointed out, the human. brain on spending some time contemplating patterns in clouds or rock faces or treebark automatically begins to make sense of each pattern, sorting them into shapes that relate to the human experience of the natural world. This sugar gum delivers many large or smaller forms that make sense to the sensitive viewer who looks more deeply into the mark-making of the painting.

$6,900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

135 x 200 cm, Oil on Canvas

This is a big abstract in oils inspired by the number and intensity of the forms and shapes discernible in the patterns on the trunk of an old sugar gum tree in Angas Gardens in North Adelaide, South Australia. As Leonardo da Vinci pointed out, the human. brain on spending some time contemplating patterns in clouds or rock faces or treebark automatically begins to make sense of each pattern, sorting them into shapes that relate to the human experience of the natural world. This sugar gum delivers many large or smaller forms that make sense to the sensitive viewer who looks more deeply into the mark-making of the painting.

$6,900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas, 91 x 61 cm

An abstracted close-up portrait of the bark of a river red gum at Currency Creek Waterfall Trail near Middleton in South Australia. Shapes and forms of creatures 'hidden' in the bark patterns – or suggested by the patterns of the bark – are revealed in the painting.

$1810 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas, 183 x 122 cm

In Angas Gardens in Adelaide, where War Memorial Drive meets King William Road, there is a stately old sugar gum, a species that is endemic to the South Australia region. The patterns in the bark are striking and seem to hint at all manner of beautiful and occasionally strange animal, bird, fish and even human forms – some native to Australia, some from far away. At the base of this portrait of the sugar gum, a koala happily acknowledges all the creatures in the bark and welcomes them into his meeting place. Ready to hang.

$4900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas, 152 x 102 cm

Sugar gums, endemic to the south coast of Australia, display the most fascinating patterns in their bark as the trees age. This painting of the trunk of a mature tree in Adelaide in South Australia shows strong contrasts between the patches of creamy-coloured and soft-violet and blue skin versus the dark umber and burnt sienna of its scars and knots. Patterns resembling powerful owls – Australia’s largest owl – gaze directly at the viewer, while others suggest all manner of Australian birds such as kookaburras and the crane-like brolga. At the same time shapes reminiscent of dingoes and even humans slip and slide out of focus. Ready to hang.

$3900 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas in Floating Oak Frame, 92 cm x 61 cm

This painting in rich burnt umbers, warm burnt siennas, flowing cerulean blues and pearlescent creams (pale Naples yellow and raw sienna tones) is a tribute to motherhood and the feminine everywhere – human, wren, oriole, galah, wallaby, lioness, hyena (among the fiercest mothers of them all) and trees themselves, the great Mothers of life on earth,. The painting’s shapes and patterns reflect the vitality and richness of life made possible only by the women of the world.

$1800 Available to view at Ex Animo Art Gallery, Adelaide. Includes a floating oak frame if bought in Adelaide at Ex Animo. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Stretched Canvas 152 x 101cm

A bold abstracted nude study of a woman facing the viewer, whom she appears to be contemplating and sizing up, rather than the other way round. The background is a riot of colour, with patterns inspired by the bark patterns of a particular plane tree in Adelaide, and the canvas is peopled with numerous creatures, most of which are mere suggestions that the viewer must complete in the studio of their own imaginations.

AU$3910 unframed.

Available during August to view at Spier & Wright in King William Road, Goodwood

Oil on Stretched Canvas 152 x 101cm

A subtle abstracted nude study with a calming colour palette, overlaid onto a canvas patterned according to the bark patterns of a Scots pine tree.

AU$3910 unframed.

Available during August to view at Spier & Wright in King William Road, Goodwood

Oil on Canvas, 153 x 91 cm

The bark-skin of a silver birch is always beautiful, and this tree in the weather extremes of the Scottish Highlands was moss-covered and peeling, especially where the trunk had been scraped or gnawed during early growth. Beneath the peeling long rolls of bark, various images are hidden – in the lower left, an elephant keeps to the shadows, and throughout the canvas animal or bird faces peek out, while the peeling rolls themselves are reminiscent of the legs on the flag of the Isle of Man. I have thought of two alternative titles: either Shy Elephant rather than Manx Elephant, or Highland Fling. Ready to hang.

AU$3710 Available during August to view at Spier & Wright in King William Road, Goodwood

Oil on Canvas, 76 x 51 cm

This is a close-up portrait of the bark of an impressive Bhutan cypress in the Botanic Gardens in Adelaide in South Australia. The cypress has a large knot in its trunk, and I felt that the patterns within it hinted at the outline of a small tree-spirit. The lines of the painting seem to flow, to reveal in the patterns cats, birds, newts and hint at the presence of several more animals. Ready to hang.

AU$1510 unframed.

Available during August to view at Spier & Wright in King William Road, Goodwood

Oil on stretched canvas, 61 x 46 cm

An abstracted portrait of the patterns on the bark of a river red gum in Currency Creek near Middleton and Victor Harbor in South Australia. Exploring the patterns, or letting the eyes roam around the painting for a time, the viewer begins to discern the shapes of many and various birds and animals around the central figure in the bark patterns, with the easiest bird to spot being the kingfisher on her shoulder.

AU$1450 unframed.

Available during August to view at Spier & Wright in King William Road, Goodwood

140 x 70 cm, Oil on Canvas

An abstracted portrait of the patterns in the trunk of an old blue gum tree in the Parklands of Adelaide that has aged and died and has begun to lose surface bark in long flakes. Its ancient patterns are glorious and willowy and suggest several creatures and human forms in a celebration of ongoing being – it remains a habitat for life – which the artist has deliberately kept as enigmatic as the striations and whorls in the tree trunk.

AU$2900

70 x 140 cm, Oil on Canvas

A brightly toned and energising abstract inspired by the patterns in paperbark trees – Melaleucas. Paperbark trees have the most astounding swirls and whorls and flowing or swelling lines and marks upon their fascinating trunks and even their branches, and in the tree providing inspiration for the painting there are numerous lines and patterns suggesting human and animal forms, some of which inspired the title – look carefully and allow your imagination free rein to discern them, including the Nativity scene near the top of the painting.

AU$2900

Oil on Canvas, 120 x 180 cm

There are two big old Outeniqua Yellowwoods – a gorgeous African tree species – in the Adelaide Botanic Garden. Their bark is quite unique and beautifully textural. The bark consists of multicoloured angular flakes that together create patters that suggest the outlines of kangaroos and birds and female forms and turtles – this is an abstract interpretation of one of the two trees.

AU$4900

Oil on Canvas, 120 x 180 cm

There are two big old Outeniqua Yellowwoods – a gorgeous African tree species – in the Adelaide Botanic Garden. Their bark is quite unique and beautifully textural. The bark consists of multicoloured angular flakes that together create patters that suggest the outlines of kangaroos, otters, platypus, turtles, all manner of birds, as well as human female forms – this is an abstracted portrait of one of the two trees.

AU$4900

Original oil on canvas, 91 x 61 cm

A treebark pattern portrait of a portion of the trunk of a magnificent river red gum in the Mitcham Reserve in Adelaide. It represents only slightly intensified colours of the tree trunk, and the patterns in the bark reveal animals, birds and human forms ... while light and shadow in a small hollow in the trunk seems to show an eye in the tree, watching the viewer.

AUD$1810

Oil on Canvas, 76 x 51 cm

This painting shows a close-up look at the colours and patterns on a small portion of the trunk of a particularly beautiful red gum in Adelaide – and the patterns etched by time and nature in the bark suggest the shapes of all sorts of birds and animals of Australia and elsewhere – especially elephants. Lots of hidden elephants in the colours of the bark. Framed in oak and ready to hang.

AU$1510

Oil on Canvas, 70 x 50 cm

One of the oldest sugar gum trees – eucalyptus cladocalyx – in urban Adelaide, South Australia is found on the very edge of Palmer Gardens in North Adelaide. Where the trunk has suffered damage sometime in the past two centuries, the protective resinous sap has hardened and darkened into a thick dark crystalline structure which forms the focus of this little portrait. It’s a beautiful tree in its proper and original habitat – and here it’s host to some African animals visiting within its patterned trunk. Ready to hang.

AUD$1450

Oil on Prepared Hardboard, 98.5 x 79.5 cm Framed

'Blues Evening' is an abstract painting of the bark patterns in a river red gum in Tanunda in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, and if the viewer spends some time looking at the painting, shapes and forms of humans, birds and animals begin to appear. A sinuous, relaxing, beautifully flowing Treebark portrait in a floating oak frame.

AUD$1910

Oil on Canvas, 92 × 61 cm

This painting ,in all manner of blues and burnt siennas of varying tones, is an abstracted ‘portrait’ of the base of a gigantic monkeypuzzle tree – I originally titled it ‘Blake’s Tiger’ because I could see or feel the energy of a tiger in the tree and in the whirling energy of the painting. After several revisits because I felt it needed something, I love it and it is renamed. It reminds the viewer immediately of coral and the vibrant life of a living coral reef.

$1810 including postage. Ships rolled internationally.

Oil on Canvas, 92 x 61 cm

I’m slightly obsessed with the big white poplar next to the statue commemorating Colonel William Light, in North Adelaide – it’s particularly beautiful, and saying it’s uniquely patterned is a sad understatement. This portrait emphasises the colour contrasts between the absolute whiteness of most of the bark and the fleshy darkness of the patterns upon it – and the tree has bumps and humps that take on animal and human features in the imagination. It’s watching us far more closely that any of us realise. Ready to hang.

AU$1810

Original oil on canvas, 91 x 61 cm

A treebark pattern portrait of a magnificent river red gum in the Mitcham Reserve in Adelaide. It represents only slightly intensified colours of the tree trunk, and the animals and forms that emerge are intriguing and beautiful – see if you can find a bilby, a shark, a dragon, an emu, a giant …

AUD1810

Oil on Canvas, 70 x 50 cm

The Chinese tallow tree is a tree native to eastern China and Taiwan, and this abstract 'portrait' shows patterns in the grey bark of the trunk of one in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. Deciduous and spectacularly coloured in autumn, its waxy seeds are the sources of stillingia oil, a drying oil used in paints and varnishes. In this painting, the furrowed patterns in the trunk suggest the shapes and faces of dragons – sea-dragons, flying dragons, and the dragons seen in Chinese New Year celebrations. Ready to hang.

AU$1450

Oil on Canvas, 70 x 50 cm

A quirky close-up abstracted portrait of the bark patterns in a tall sugar gum eucalyptus beside Brownhill Creek in Adelaide, South Australia, which to me seemed to hint at a host of unusual animals and birds, and tiny human-like forms. The painting is executed with brushwork, yet retains a strong sense of texture, with a limited but pleasingly vivid palette. Tiny figures reminiscent of cave paintings dot the canvas – including a cave artist working on his own, under a giant image of a spotted hyena. Ready to hang.

AU$1450

Oil on Canvas, 70 x 50 cm

The painting is an abstracted close-up portrait of the patterns in the treebark of a river red gum at Currency Creek Waterfall trail near Middleton, Goolwa and Victor Harbor in South Australia. River red gums vary so much in the patterns that form on their trunks, and this tree is particularly mottled and colourful, with many of the little variations in colour suggesting dragons or birds or kangaroos – or even crustaceans like yabbies. It's a highly immersive, interactive painting – and rewarding of time spent exploring it. Ready to hang.

AU$1450

Oil on Canvas, 102 x 152 cm

Part of the ‘Endangered Species’ series. This abstract painting of a charging black rhino is inspired by Ted Hughes' poem 'Black Rhino' of 1988, written for Prince Philip in his then role as patron of the World Wildlife Fund. Elements of the painting are suggested by images in the poem – the rapid charging forward movement, the wristwatch reward for the poacher after the rhino horn, the moth .... The painting addresses the horrifying idea that a 60-million-year-old species could be made extinct in our lifetimes because of human greed and ignorance, and is a plea to humankind to cherish and protect the wonderful creatures still left to the world.

AUD$3910

Oil on Canvas, 102 x 152 cm

A group of giraffes is collectively known as a 'tower' – a lovely image. The abstract painting makes use of triangular shapes throughout, even adapting the giraffes' patterns into groupings of triangles rather than their actual markings. The ‘snowflakes’ in mainly triangular shapes make the entire painting feel, in my opinion, light and playful.

AUD$3910

Oil on Canvas, 152 x 102 cm

AU$3910

Oil on Canvas, 152 x 102 cm

This is a second close-up portrait of the bark of the mature coral tree I discovered in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. The painting laterally mirrors the earlier painting Natural Exuberance, and it is filled with energy and movement, using blues and purples as major component colours. Coral trees are gorgeous – both in their bark and their breathtaking flowers, and the bark patterns of this tree reveal multiple animal and bird figures and hint at a nude human form with arms held high in joy – perhaps in celebration of trees and forests and what they mean to the world and to us. Ready to hang.

AU$3910

Oil on Canvas, 152 x 102 cm

Coral trees are marvellous – they can look quite hidden in their natural landscapes, and then they flower and are breathtaking. This is a close-up portrait of the bark of a mature coral tree in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, and the bark patterns inspire visions of all sorts of figures – wild like monkeys and lions and storks, but also domestic animals like cows and mules. There's a nude in here too, herself hiding an owl and a bird's profile – and the exuberance of the bark and of the female form inspired the title of the painting. Trees facilitate so much of the good things we as humans need – depend upon – or love in the world, which is what Natural Exuberance acknowledges and celebrates.

AU$3910 including postage (ships rolled internationally)

Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

The painting is an abstracted portrait of a Turkish pine (Pinus brutia) located in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens in South Australia. The portrait is of a knot in the tree's trunk, and knots are usually evidence of the tree's having undergone some trauma in its past. What is so inspiring is that the tree has healed itself and the evidence of its healing moves outwards from the scar of the knot in a joyful Fibonacci spiral of new bark flakes. The colours are optimistic and warm, and if one looks closely, the bark patterns hide or reveal some intriguing and delightful little creatures. Stretched and ready to hang.

AUD$2850

Oil on Canvas 152 x 102cm

The casuarina tree is native to Australia, and in Alexandria in Sydney a big casuarina has beautiful, rough, textured bark that made for an ideal tree portrait. Druantia is a Gallic goddess proposed by Robert Graves, and she is the 'fairy' in this painting teeming with animals and birds hidden in the garden created by the bark patterns – koala, bilby, elephant, rhino, kangaroo, bluejay, owl … and many others. Ready to hang.

AU$3910

Oil on Canvas, 152 x 102 cm

The painting was inspired by the bark of a paperbark tree in Alexandria in Sydney. Paperbarks have intriguing textures, ranging from filmy and transparent elements to rough and pithy, and the patterns formed in the bark bring all sorts of shapes and images to mind. The tree decides its patterns, and the colours combine to reveal animals, fish and birds dancing in the joyful organised chaos that is Nature. Ready to hang.

AU$3910

Oil on Canvas, 51 x 76 cm

Portrait of the old hollow oak in Groot Constantia vineyard in Cape Town, South Africa. Filled with energy and movement, ‘Energy Centres’ swirls the gaze to a focus just left of centre, and then draws you into seeing a host of faces, figures and forms – birds, reptiles, humans, spirits – and a mammoth. The vibrancy of this smaller Treebark painting reflects the sense of wise and benevolent life energy that one finds in old trees, and so often especially in old oaks. Ready to hang.

AU$1510