2023 Instudio Art Trail features 44 High Country artists

Water colour painter Bruce Griffiths picked up a brush for the first time when he was in his late 40s and it sparked a passion that not only pays the bills, but takes him across the country looking for new wilderness to capture.

Bruce Griffiths, of Kleinton, is one of 44 artists involved in the 2023 Instudio Art Trail.

To thumb through Bruce Griffiths’ painting catalogue is to see snapshots of Australia’s forgotten backtracks and hidden wildness.

Whether they are scenes of the bustling Melbourne streets, old farmers trading yarns over the bonnet of a beat-up ute or rolling, woody hills Griffiths preserves them in water colour with a modest dash of artistic licence.

“I do a lot of workbook pieces that are quick ten minute paintings, then I take a heap of photos and bring it all back to my studio where I can blow it up,” he said.

“My wife and I do a lot of travelling and I do a lot of work as a result of it.

“We were in Tasmania for three weeks in 2021 and I am still painting scenes from the trip.”

Griffiths is one of 44 artists who have opened their studio as part of the 2023 Instudio Art Trail.

Each weekend in August the public is invited into the workspaces, to view their art and talk about how and why it was made.

Bruce Griffiths picked up a paintbrush 20 years ago and has never looked back.

Griffiths said the trail is a good way to sell work, but it also helps him attract new students to his classes.

“In a way teaching makes you a better artist,” he said.

“I have a set curriculum but will run through the work the day before a class and teach myself again.

“If it is an advanced class we could do one painting a day so I will make mock-ups and work through solutions.

“You’ve got to be ahead of the class.”

The classes are taught through the Toowoomba Art Society and also through regional workshops across Queensland and cater to all skill levels.

In a way, Griffiths is a great example of how it is never too late to pick up a brush, having started painting 20 years ago.

“The sounds like a long time but it is not,” he said.

For a full list of Instudio Art Trail artists visit crowsnestartsandcrafts.com.au.