The impacts of COVID have challenged the world in a multitude of ways, but for Sydney artist Julian Meagher they appear to have sharpened his focus.  Over the last 14 months, with no other deadline than his upcoming show at Yavuz Gallery, he has taken the opportunity to free himself from the usual demands of an imminent exhibition and created a body of work which has explored exciting new directions.  Jules is well known for his beautiful portraits and still life works - painted in thin layers of translucent oil paint and often mistaken from afar as watercolour - but his stunning large scale landscapes over recent years are now taking centre stage and incorporate elements of abstraction to the point where in some works the representational drops off altogether.  And yet there is a strong link to the mysteries of the natural world in his work. Ideas surrounding the moon and tidal forces, sleep cycles, dreams, heartbeat rhythms and light rays drive his landscape paintings adding to their symbolism and allure. I caught up with Jules last week at his Sydney studio where he works among other high level creatives. In this podcast episode we talked about how it all started (his first career might surprise you), his ideas, his techniques and the unexpected energy required to create these still works.  He has exhibited in close to 30 solo shows and has been shortlisted in many major art prizes in Australia including the Archibald (four times), Wynne, Doug Moran, Glover and Shirley Hannan.  To hear our conversation press play beneath the above feature photo. A short video relating to this episode will be uploaded to the Talking with Painters YouTube channel in the coming weeks. Upcoming show * Solo exhibition, 'The small hours', Yavuz Gallery, Sydney, 18 November to 18 December Links to things and people we talked about in the show * Julian Meagher website* Julian Meagher at Yavuz Gallery* Julian Meagher at Edwina Corlette* Julian Ashton Art School * * Philip Wolfhagen on Talking with Painters * Robert Hannaford* Jasper Knight ' Fozzy', 2021, oil on linen, 56.5 x 46 x 3.5 cmfinalist, Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of NSW, 2021Image: Art Gallery of NSW 'Slow Wave Cycle (Barragga Lake) #8', 2021, oil on linen, 152 x 123cmImage courtesy of the artist Slow Wave Cycle (Barragga Lake), 2021, oil on linen, 245 x 198 cmImage courtesy of the artist 'The small hour #3', 2021, oil on linen, 183 x 152cmImage courtesy of the artist Julian Meagher, Slow Wave Cycle (Marrickville), 2021, oil on linen, 245 x 198 cmImage courtesy of the artist 'Daniel Johns', 2015, oil on linen, 122 x 91 cmFinalist, Archibald Prize 2015Image: Art Gallery of NSW Rapid Eye Movement #5, 2021, oil on linen, 51 x 41 cmImage courtesy of the artist