“. . . rippling with the still energy of the night.”
An ode to a city, Luna at Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf captures Sydney as a crystal blue landscape with twinkling stars – the foliage evocative in lush greens; pops of pink undercurrents adding vibrations to the canvas – rippling with the still energy of the night.
Painting intuitively, blending from the same limited oil paint palette, Australian artist Melanie Waugh’s process invites a magical perspective on familiar Sydney harbourside nooks. “The theme is continuing with the nocturnal paintings I’ve been painting the last couple of years,” says the artist. “Sydney’s east is where I lived for over 20 years, and it’s a subject I hadn’t tackled yet. In the past, I have painted night paintings of my new home, the mid north coast, but not my old.”

Melanie Waugh, Eucalyptus Parsley Bay, oil on canvas, 92 × 108cm
After visiting her favourite spots in the city, she works from photographs, playing with Photoshop, turning day into night, back in her country studio. Waugh adds, “I take day or night trips and revisit areas familiar to me, taking many pics, if they are shot at night, this involves using a tripod and staying very still.”
Yet the final composition is the result of feeling, memory, and intuition for the landscape – paint worked wet into wet, ‘Alla Prima’, following a sense of immediacy.
A love letter to her old city, Luna reveals the romanticisation of Waugh’s former eastern suburb haunts. An endearment for harbour beaches, swimming spots, and ocean alcoves, depicted under the night skies, starry canopy, and deep dark shadows.

Melanie Waugh, Red Gum Hermit Bay, oil on canvas, 81 × 102cm
“Perhaps I’ve romanticised it by being away, hence the starry nights. I’m fairly sure the stars don’t shine this brightly over a city,” the artist muses. She concludes, “I hope that I have been able to capture the beauty and allure of Sydney Harbour’s coastline where, in daylight hours, city dwellers flock to convene in nature.”

Melanie Waugh, Christmas Bush Hermitage Bay, oil on canvas, 51 × 61cm
Emma-Kate Wilson is an art and design writer and editor based on Gumbaynggirr Country (Bellingen, NSW).
Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf
23 August to 17 September 2023
Sydney