Angus Douglas
Angus Douglas’ maternal and paternal ancestors were transported to Tasmania as convicts and later, buccaneers and free settlers. Their farming legacy remains amongst properties around the North Midlands. Douglas was born in Melbourne in 1975 and as a child he visited his grandmother on her farm ‘Woodhall’, at Perth in Tasmania’s north. In 2001 he moved there to live. He and wife Vanessa have three children and Douglas runs the prime-lamb sheep business on ‘Woodhall’.
In 2009 he exhibited his first solo exhibition of work in ‘Frontier’, a body of work resulting out of a solo walk around Port Davey.
Douglas began painting in watercolours, which evolved from his sketches he did whilst overseas in Asia, Europe and around Australia. He undertook painting courses with Max Angus and Patricia Giles. Under their mentorship, along with encouragement from fellow artist and mentor, Jerzi Michalski, Douglas’ skills grew and enabled his move from paper to canvas. This was the medium that gave the artist greater contrast of colours and light, and more control of the paint, which is not so achievable in watercolour.
A Glover Prize Finalist numerous times, Douglas received ‘Highly Commended’ by the judges for his work ‘Expatriate’ in 2016.
Douglas is a master of capturing the spectacular colours and topography of our beautiful island state. In his latest series, Douglas takes us high above the canopies of the rugged South West coast of Tasmania, in the cockpit of a light aircraft, providing us with a birds eye view of the some of the most isolated and stunning areas in Tassie.
