A surfer from way back, Ross surfs all year round, and in some ways this was a

precursor to his latter day art career. In summer, he rides the waves down on

Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula and in winter turns his attention to the West

Coast beaches. “I have always liked to draw, but I first began to dabble in commercial art when I was sixteen years old,” he says. “There was a surf board manufacturer who employed me to paint his boards and in return, I got to use his equipment to make my own. It was like the panel van art that was so popular in the 1980s. “I still do that now, spending a day a week doing surf board art. I love the culture and the company of the other blokes, although the art I do on the boards is now more stylized and funky.”

Ross is a family man with two grown up children. His studio is his shed in

suburban Cheltenham, a Melbourne suburb. “Every man needs a shed,” he

confesses, “and when I am there painting, it is my own world. I like to put in

eight hours a day and push my painting. Sometimes I will stay down there for

sixteen hours if I am on a roll.”

Right now, he is busy positioning himself as an artist by ensuring that his work is

instantly recognizable - that people will look at it and know straight away they

are looking at a painting by Ross Wilsmore.

His speciality is landscapes. Using acrylics, he takes his colours and enhances

the visual by accentuating the moody and compellingly surreal light effects. The

sky is a feature of his paintings and he always paints it first, adding layer on

layer and moving forward. The sky seems to dictate the mood of the painting.

Although his style is distinct and instantly recognizable, he appreciates that he is

often compared to Jeffrey Smart, the iconic expatriate Australian painter,

recognised for his modernist depictions of urban landscapes, now in his 80s and

living in Italy.

While Ross accepts that this is a very flattering comparison and there may be

some similarity in the ambience of both artists’ work, in his opinion, however, it

ends there. “I will accept that my paintings may evoke a similar emotion to

those of Jeffrey Smart,” he says, “However, I believe, my technique and use of

colour is far more sophisticated.”

His art is dramatic and often surreal. Ross explores the impact of man upon his

landscape and how each affects and changes the other. So he might tease with a

modern plane laying in an ancient and barren landscape, or confront with a

barbed wire, locked gate to a port. The juxtaposition of all elements in the piece

accentuates the unique character of each individual element.

The surfer in him appreciates nature and the environment, while his upbringing

in the suburbs opened his eyes to imposed constructed beauty. His background

in graphics sees him exploring the angles and perspective, with the results

startlingly stark, simple, beautiful, whimsical and thought provoking. Of his

recurring theme of art in the landscape that, in turn, becomes another work, he

says, “Often, in my paintings you find art within art. By saying that, I mean that

the lines and signs on the road are art in themselves and the way they are

incorporated into the landscape becomes the composition.”

The winner of two Melbourne Art Director’s Club Awards for Illustration and

Design, the art of Ross Wilsmore is fast becoming popular and is already held in

many corporate and private collections. He is finding it difficult to keep up with

the demand, currently preparing for an exhibition in July.

Ross rarely has the opportunity to interact with other artists and, by and large,

between searching for that perfect wave and spending hours in his shed, is a

solo being. “I’m just happy to be,” he says. “There are not many full time artists

around here and, after painting eight hours a day, I lead a pretty full life with my

family and my surfing. My art is developing in its own way, so I’m pleased about

that.”