The Desire To Experiment

Near Moree in north-western New South Wales, this gifted ‘man on the land’ nurtures a passion for painting the wild plains that surround him – while capturing their many moods and characters.

- Trevor Lang

Ian Reardon first became interested in art through his grandfather who worked in pencil and watercolours and also painted window-front signs for shops in Grafton.

Ian took art as a subject at the Southport school on Queensland’s Gold Coast when he was 12 years old. Art was always his favourite subject. During his school years, his grandfather entered two of Ian’s works in the Jacaranda Art Exhibition. He was delighted and encouraged to receive a first prize in the Under 14 section for a watercolour, and a ‘highly commended’ in the Open section for a pastel picture.

“I left school at 16 years of age to work on the family farm,” Ian relates. “I am still there today; and now run the property with my son Dan. Those early years, for me, cemented a great love of the land and all that goes with it … including horses, dogs and cattle. I love my life in the bush; I love the characters associated with it – like some of the shearers, station hands, jackaroos and drovers that I cross paths with. Some of my fondest memories are of droving and meeting fascinating country people. These elements often appear in many of my paintings.”

Ian Reardon was far too busy in his youth to continue with art. The life he led at that time wasn’t really conducive to painting. The illness of his father was what propelled him to return to art – so, ironically, out of something hard and upsetting came something that he was excited and passionate about.