Gordon Hanley was born in England and travelled to Australia with his parents as a 5 year old, spending most of his childhood and teenage years on his parent’s property in rural southeast Queensland. He began drawing from an early age, gaining inspiration from the subject matter around him. These were subjects found in every country area and included wildlife, old barns, abandoned cars, horses, and botanicals, generally anything that was interesting at the time.

Graduating from high school with a Commonwealth University Scholarship, he went to the University of NSW and the University of Queensland, obtaining a B.Sc. In biology, a B.A., and a Diploma of Education. He illustrated many scientific papers during this time, developing a talent for meticulous accuracy and realism, drawing and painting subjects from life. After a 5-year stint in the Navy and some years as a teacher, Gordon decided to pursue a career in art.

His first solo exhibition was held in 1990 and featured 33 paintings, all of which sold out on opening night. Since then, almost every solo exhibition has produced sell-out results. From this very first exhibition, subject matter included figure - work, wildlife art and old structures, diverse subjects that have formed the basis of every exhibition and print release ever since. From 1992 Gordon has released over 100 different print titles in both open and limited edition format, making him the most published print artist in Australia in the last 12 years.

Although primarily an oil painter for many years, Gordon switched to watercolour as his preferred medium in 1989. This is an unusual progression, because most artists who change media have tended to move in the other direction. Transparent watercolour is an extremely difficult medium in which to attempt a realist, sharp-focus style of art. There is no white paint in a true watercolour (the white is unpainted paper) and watercolours are essentially non-correctable. If a mistake is made, often the only solution is to start all over again. Despite this, Gordon’s loss rate is usually of the order of two or three paintings a year, which is just as well because each major work requires some 80 - 120 hours to complete. This does not include the time taken to do the many sketches and preparatory studies he usually does prior to painting. Why go to all the trouble?

"With watercolour you have the perfect medium with which to create highly detailed images. This is why it was used for centuries in the rendering of scientific studies. As well as this, it is a medium of unparalleled flexibility in that you can create delicate fragile washes, lines of incredible subtlety and extreme hard edge clarity, yet at the same time it has unpredictability to it. It is simply the best medium in existence for the rendering of texture, whether it is the softness of fur or down, the character of face and hands, patterns of rust and weathered logs or the delicacy of a flower. "

Gordon realized many years ago that watercolours could be used to create images like no other, and he began to rapidly explore the potential of this challenging medium. Entirely self - taught he is now widely recognized as one of the very best painters of watercolour, raising it to new heights.

For 4 years from 2000 until 2004 he worked on the Jewels of Nature project: a two-volume limited edition set of books on Parrots of the world and involved the creation of 244 watercolour paintings. In 2004 Gordon travelled to the Amazon to commence work on another group of birds: the Toucans. This very large, exclusive and rare book will be the first such book on Toucans since John Gould’s publication some 170 years ago.

During 2005 Gordon travelled to the UK to firstly collect images for 72 paintings of birds of prey used in Falconry. The UK is the world’s capital of this sport. A long time fancier of the sport commissioned these original paintings and once the 72 paintings are completed they will be used to produce 2 books. The first book will be very large leather bound Giclee reproduction Limited to just 100 copies. The second book will be an A3 size coffee table stylebook, with an initial print run of 250,000 copies. These will be distributed in UK, Europe and Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, who are also great falconry followers.

Peregrine Falcon sold in 2005 for $15700.00

Whilst in the UK, Gordon received a second commission, and this involves painting every model of Rolls Royce since 1905. Rolls Royce is celebrating its 100 anniversary in 2005 and these paintings will be of actual cars, with Gordon having to travel around the world to paint each individual vehicle.

Once again these originals will be used to produce 2 books. The first will be limited to 100 copies and each volume will be bound with the actual leather used in the upholstery of the vehicle that will be featured on the front cover. These volumes will be reproduced using Giclee techniques, which will accurately reproduce the colours and tones in the original paintings.

These paintings will also be used to reproduce an A3 coffee stylebook, which will be sold around the world. There are more books written about the Rolls Royce than another car in the world. However, none of these existing books will carry paintings of every model produced over the 100 years.

These two publications will launch Gordon Hanley, Artist onto the international stage, making his original paintings very collectable.

Gordon Hanley has also been named official artist for the Magic Millions. This prestigious organisation sells race horses from its Gold Coast auction house, and it guarantees that at least one of its annual yearlings will go onto become a million dollar winner.

His paintings can be found in many private and corporate collections throughout Australia and overseas and the National Library in Canberra, The Queensland State Library, State Library of South Australia, UCLA and the Queensland Museum has also acquired Gordon’s work.

Gordon has many of original paintings used to produce reproductions, which are available nationally and internationally including:

Open edition prints
Limited edition prints
Calendars
Jewels of Nature – The Parrots book
Tapestries
Paper Toll
On Biscuit Tins
Dinner Place Mats
Table Drink Coasters
Photo Album Covers
Remarques
Aquarelle Remarques

Jewels of Nature are an impressive collection of stunning Parrot paintings reproduced in two large, leather-bound, highly collectable books. Each of the two volumes contains paintings of parrots in their natural habitat and matching, life-sized studies with text written by one of seven leading world experts on parrots.

Never before has one artist painted such a large collection of watercolour paintings of parrots as original art works and painted these birds in their natural habitats. This edition is strictly limited to a once-only publication worldwide. Each book is certificated, and has been personally signed and numbered by Gordon. The books are hand-bound by a Sydney-based, fourth-generation bookbinder; completely acid-free materials are used in the production of these books to ensure longevity. The text on the front cover and the spine is embossed in 18-carat gold leaf.

Jewels of Nature provide the proud owner with exclusive artwork published nowhere else, and it affords fascinating insights into the lives of the world’s most beautiful parrots. These limited-edition volumes comprise an unparalleled collection of wildlife watercolour painting, and possess unequalled value for the rare book collector and art connoisseur.

Artist’s Comment

Why I became an artist? It was an easy decision really, I mean that if you have to seriously sit down and think “Am I going to be a teacher or an Artist?” then be a teacher, I firmly believe that you do not choose to be an Artist, art chooses you. The same is true of what you paint as well. It’s very simple: I paint what I care about. There is profound beauty in nature, not just parts of it, and I have an overwhelming desire when I paint, to communicate this feeling to others. I paint the commonplace, the old, the dilapidated, the gently decaying. When I paint figures, I try to get to the character of that person. The urban scenes that I choose to paint have a wealth of history and experience that seems oddly personal. It is as though time and the people passing through the landscape imprint it with its own unique character.

My work is often referred to as photo-realist or magic-realist. This is not really the case. I do not try to achieve a direct photographic likeness. What I seek is something beneath the surface, which is very difficult to capture with a camera. In any case there are a lot of artists who paint more realistically than I do. I am a very messy painter. My paintings are a mass of spatters and drips. I mix transparent washes with dry brush and paint with sable brushes, hog bristle and even fingers. Technique is something I use to achieve an end; it is never an end in itself.

I do not wish to follow any particular movement, or other artists; I am quite content to create images that mean something to me personally. If other people like them then that is great. Being a scientist has helped me to see without prejudice, to really observe. The artist enables me to interpret what I see. I doubt that this basic philosophy will change much as my work continues to develop, whatever medium or direction I wish to explore.

Gordon was always interested in art, and began exhibiting paintings in 1984, taking out a number of awards in country art shows. These included open category first prizes, where as a teenager he was often competing against established “name” artists. Gordon has participated in over 30 exhibitions, with two solo exhibitions in 1990 and 1991 being sell-outs. In 1993 Gordon had a solo exhibition at the Hilton Hotel in Brisbane, which was an outstanding success as well. In 1998 Gordon was the first artist to have a solo exhibition at the Morpeth Gallery’s new blue wing and has exhibited his work continually at the Gallery since then.