Brushing with memories. The paintings of Dai Wynn.

By Marjie Courtis

Dai Wynn has not met Norah Jones. But perhaps he should meet her alter ego in The Painter's Song, who sings a wistful lament: "if I were a painter and could paint a memory".

In Dai she would find a painter who does indeed paint memories!

Dai, an Australian, paints from recollections of his own travels. But he also allows his buyers to re-live their own memories.

He brought back my Parisian memories with his painting of Sacre Coeur, which combines the pedestrian and the sacred in Montmartre. By way of contrast, another painting of Paris, absolutely devoid of pedestrians, was sold to a Chinese couple at the Shanghai Art Fair, since it recalled their own unjostled impressions of Paris.

After a flick through Dai Wynn's online gallery of "fresh, original, inexpensive paintings" (Dai's words), I'm motivated to depart my ergonomic chair for another long, cramped flight to a painted or remembered location.

In the meantime, I can enjoy an artful journey through his two galleries, which portray the Amalfi Coast in Italy, La Tremblade in France, Akoroa Harbour in New Zealand and Alhambra in Spain.

Dai paints with oil on canvas or with watercolours on fine paper. For the most part, he doesn't just see a skyline, he sees a dark cloud threatening the buoyant mood of the souls on the streets. He doesn't just see a forest, he sees the sunlight creating a bright, smoky fork between the tree trunks.

Occasionally, I might wonder whether Dai has romanticised a French village. Or wonder whether that building is really so red. But usually, there's a sense of authenticity.

He brings his easel indoors for the pursuit of portrait painting. Usually commissioned, they are seldom on public display. But Dai has twice entered Australia's prestigious Archibald Prize, aiming for the elusive privilege of being hung in salons around Australia.

Dai Wynn, of Welsh origins but Francofile persuasion, is both arts creator and arts blogger. He is as comfortable in arts cyberspace as he is in the tangible world of his paints, studio and plein-air locations.

His blogs tell you unashamedly that, while art lovers in 63 countries and 267 cities enjoy his images on the Internet, online sales have yet to meet his expectations. For Dai, sales are usually made to people he has met personally.

Having met him myself, I'm tempted by the bright colours of Koonung Rockface, abstracted and cross-sectioned by freeway construction in suburban Melbourne.

Bright is a word that does characterise Dai's works. It's a cheerful interlude for me whenever Dai's weekly email arrives, showing the latest output from his studio. The email, always entitled The Paint is Still Wet depicts a new location and is usually very different from the last email.

I often capture my own memories in words and photos, but somehow, Dai uses the freshness, smell, texture and sensuality of paint, to evoke something more than my own words and photographs.

For example, in Banff - Canadian Rocky Mountains, Alberta - Dai has made extensive use of a palette knife to re-create the texture of the jagged rocky mountain dominating the scene.

If, like me, you want Dai to "paint a memory", paint a portrait, or simply email a little brightness every week, go to his website. For a brush with memories!