I know many artists. Few are quite close friends, many
I cross path with through local art shows, the Internet
or our website www.oz-artfocus.com. All are varied and
as diverse as life itself. Yet, just about all of them crave
this independence and success in the “business of art”
even when they already have another professional
career, but not many dare to take such a plunge.

Simply, it will take a tremendous courage to leave the safety

of an established career and embark on starting another,

you have to have what it takes! talent alone is not enough,

you need determination, vision and the tireless pursuit of

your dream. Peter Gerasimon is such an artist.

Trained as an economist with a successful career in

business management and economics he left it all to answer

his call and fulfil his passion of becoming a full time artist.

The Gods smiled on him, he became an “ instant success “

to quote his website. On my first visit to Peter’s website I was

pleasantly surprised to see a lovely collage made of the many
paintings that adorn the various sections of his online gallery,

placed together like a giant jigsaw puzzle that draws a pretty

good picture of life in this blessed land of OZ. 

 

The website drew me to revisit and enjoy an unhurried look-
about again and again, well before I started writing this review. 
There are lots of faces and places, giant ships of the air, tiny 
creatures of the bush, studies of clouds, street trams, architecture
and lots more. Peter gives us a hint about his broad vision and
philosophy in an introduction, he says “ My aim is to capture

the present, reflecting the nostalgic essence of the times

gone by“ and in another place he states: “Well aware about

our ties with Mother Earth.....we should respect and protect

each other, all the living things and last but not least, our life

support machine, our eco-system “. Look through his

paintings and you will find that this theme flows through,

acting as an invisible binding, a kind of a backbone if you like,

to all these various and numerous parts , transforming them
into a coherent body, a body that glows with vibrant colours

under the unmistakable Australian light. Right at the beginning,

you could see a confidant hand with brush-work that displays

a high ability and a style that can only be achieved through the

love to paint and not through the mere practice. 

 

Many of the paintings on the site are so realistic that you are 
forgiven if you thought you were looking at photos, yet others 
are reminiscent of the impressionism of a bygone era, with
delicate hues and fine textures that is so delicious to look at

like candy floss inviting a waiting child to a sweet feast! The

eyes wonder and admire, all  the still life that won’t keep still,

till the giant metallic birds and the steel trams bring you back

to reality reminding you of the technical age we live in. 

Speaking of technology, perhaps it is time to touch on that

aspect of the website. Peter has designed and built his web

gallery by himself, he has chosen a simple design format that

puts the art viewing first  with all the information you need to

find your way around, clearly displayed. Navigational links

and thumbs are functioning correctly  ( don’t you hate it when

you want to look at an enlarged image, and all you get is ...

file not found?) .

Having said all of that, I only have one small gripe about the
 site, it has too much information packed in  a small number 
of pages, I would have liked to see it spread out a bit, but on

the overall, great site...don’t miss it.

P.S.

My favourite painting is "I am a sailor", it captures all the