Stephen Howard
Clubhouse in the Park II
Oil on Board
900 x 1200 mm
Sold
Through ‘Clubhouse in the Park II’ Howard explores details that remain in the memory, such as an abstract recollection of trees where colour and form are as we recall, rather than how they appear in reality. Similarly, architectural details of the clubhouse are minimal, and particular elements may be omitted entirely, with only key features remaining in the memory. Shadows fall from the detailed corrugated iron roof over the still clubhouse’s windows and softly rendered curtains within, open and closed. A vibrant red bench, a recurring feature of Howard’s works, draws the eye – an invitation. Inspired by an idyllic summer’s day spent at Queens Park, Invercargill, ‘Clubhouse in the Park II’ exudes a heady sense of warmth and serenity, and engages with the very human notion of memory and recollection.
Artist Bio
Stephen Howard is a Canterbury-based painter whose luminous landscapes explore the interplay between perception, memory, and movement. Working primarily in oil on board, Howard renders abstracted environments that offer a heightened experience of place shaped by the shifting presence of light and the slow unfolding of time.
Central to Howard’s practice is an intuitive understanding of light as both subject and medium. His distinctive use of colour and tone produces an atmospheric radiance that seems to animate the surface from within. Trees bend gently, edges shimmer, and light in motion softens forms. These gestures evoke the subtle rhythms of wind, weather, and the emotional currents of lived experience.