Contemporary Art

Abstract • Landscapes • Portraits

Originals, Prints & Commissions

VIEW GALLERY

Contemporary Art

Abstract • Landscapes • Portraits

Originals, Prints & Commissions

VIEW GALLERY

Contemporary Art

Abstract • Landscapes • Portraits

Originals, Prints & Commissions

VIEW GALLERY

Art By Allan

Allan Cooney was born in Cunnamulla, Queensland. Born into a farm family and spent many years in the family business before going into an executive career in management. Now lives in Toowoomba but thinks Eulo in far western Queensland is home.

He has worked variously as a jackeroo, barman, roustabout, labourer, ringer, salesman, footballer, station manager, pastoralist, classer, studmaster, activist, pilot, consultant, business executive, trainer, mentor, share trader, CEO. Allan has worked in places like China, Antarctica and South America, and across most of Australia. He helped develop a new economic engine for remote aboriginal people, lead an Antarctic expedition, has been a passionate advocate for sound stewardship of the land and through all that, an artist.

Allan’s work has a meaning to it, to be evocative, sometimes an observation of contemporary matters, sometimes to be a calm place in a strange world.  The signature work is large and can “fill” a room. Allan doesn’t try to paint with a particular style or to an identifiable genre, though his work has an identifiable character that is unstructured with obvious “hand” and a degree of naiveté. Each work is a new adventure.

Allan likes the art to be personal as a sharing of himself in the work. And mostly he likes to be certain that within everyone is an artist and art is universal.

“I am always doing things I can’t do, that’s how I get to do them” – Picasso

You might have some

Frequently Asked Questions

Yep, I have done the 10,000 hours Gladwell refers to even if I don’t agree with his premise. I do think it’s a nice idea for technicians that fails in the face of artists and genuine genius – Pablo Picasso was 13 when he painted “the Barefoot Girl” .

If you are reading this you are familiar with my “style” or the many styles I paint in. Art is subjective, if it touches you it does what it intends, and this makes it credible.  Art critics and art prizes are just as subjective as you, their opinion counts but beware letting them think for you, art is for the heart not the mind.  

Every painting has 2 meanings – what it means to me and what it means to you. There is a whole world of people out there trying to interpret what the great masters meant when they painted something. For most artists  (me included), it is the clearing of the mind to get out of the way of the creative process that produces a painting. Often, I don’t know what they mean until they are done. I have done one painting 6 times and each time it means something different. Its art  – as Picasso says , we enjoy the bird singing even if we don’t know the tune.

Depends on what you call an investment –  if it is a share portfolio that you think is going to go up in value suddenly next week and make you a bunch of money – I wish you luck. If it is valuable possession that you want to hold long term for the dividend and  value, then yes. The dividend is the daily enjoyment you get from art –  money can buy it but only the heart can measure it.

My main work is oil on canvas, the same medium and base used as far back as the early middle ages and used by all the great painters. I also occasionally use acrylics and one of my more unusual styles is a mix of media using charcoal, oil and a fixative. I have also done work with things like house paint, extractions from tea and coffee, graphite. To date I haven’t used shit or vomit as some artists have tried though I have indivertibly used blood. I was using a palette knife which I cut my finger on and was that engrossed I didn’t realise I was bleeding for a while. There has been the occasional unfortunate insect that chose the wrong landing  on a wet canvas and stuck there before I could remove it. The rich patina of reality.

Looked after properly they will outlast every human on the planet, which may not be very long given some of the shit that is going on.

  • Original paintings – first come first served. Unless I am holding work for an exhibition I will sell them now. I sell nothing under $1500. If I can’t sell a piece and don’t want to keep it I paint something else over it.
  • Reproductions – I have a completion agent who does very high quality fine art reproductions. A limited but growing number of works are available in a variety of sizes on a variety of bases. These are also available directly from me I just ring the company and make the order – prices are the same, waiting times are the same however if you get them from me I will sign the back of the work and endorse you as the owner, ensuring the provenance of the piece.
  • Commissions – yep I will do a commission for you. It costs me around $500 in materials and expenses to complete a painting so that is the deposit. Price wise we will work that out before I begin and is based on the complexity of the work. A major piece can take 20 hours or more actual painting plus the creative process. Simpler pieces can be done in a day’s work – my time is worth $200 an hour.  

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