Yallingup teacher Robin Bigwood unveils latest artworks in holiday exhibition at Cherring Cot studio

Veteran Yallingup artist Robin Bigwood will unveil a selection of his life’s work this month.

It will be the retired Dunsborough Primary School teacher’s first exhibition since the start of the pandemic and features 17 new works inspired by his daily ritual at Yallingup Lagoon.

Bigwood told the Times he created most of his oil paintings from a relatively meditative state after his morning swims in the lagoon, which had become a daily exercise of indulging his love of the ocean.

He said his style had evolved during the decades and was more abstract than any attempt to reproduce the natural wonders he enjoyed so much.

“Now more than anything my focus is on the ocean,” he said.

“People say my work is a combination of the ocean and florals of the beach.

“I make it more abstract to convey the feeling of the ocean rather than try to create a copy of it.”

He lives on a bush block not far from the lagoon and has found the contemplative lifestyle benefits his art.

“I swim every day in the Yallingup Lagoon and it’s my kick-start for the day,” he said.

“You can just lose yourself with swimming. It’s become a meditative process, that early morning swim.”

The artist said horizontal lines in nature were a regular motif.

He aimed for an almost meditative state when painting to tap into an unconscious feeling which he then expressed with oils on canvas.

The exhibition will open privately on Friday, April 12, and then be open 2pm to 5pm Saturday and Sunday at the Cherring Cot private studio at 85 Sheoak Drive, Yallingup.