Merri Creek impressions - the art of Lana Daubermann

Baker Street Bridge, oil on wood by Lana Daubermann

On a sunny spring day, the combination of light and shade can be dazzling. The sparkle of the Merri Creek, combined with the green of the grass and the splashes of yellow from the wattle, is something Lana has brilliantly captured in many of her paintings.

Inspired by a study of Australian Tonalism  Lana’s work sharpens the lighting contrasts in her creek studies. This results in striking images which perfectly evoke the Merri Creek on a sunny day. One glance at her work and you’re Creekside, brushing through long grass by the water, teased by calls of tiny birds in the Grevilleas and the trickling of gently moving water.

Talking to Lana, she makes a great point about the unique colours of the Merri. The muted colours of indigenous plantings are often seen against patches of fluro green Couch grass. The Merri Creek colour palette is a distinctive mix of the subtle and the down right lurid. Her paintings capture this. Many of her works are instantly recognisable as the Merri Creek.

Having conquered the arresting technique of capturing light and shadow, Lana is now exploring the subtleties of the colours that can be found, on cloudy or dull days, down at the Merri Creek. Life can’t all be endless sunshine and high contrast.

Following Melbourne weather, the creek has its moody days of quiet repose, when daylight is muted and colours appear soft and ambiguous. Lana’s latest paintings reflect this new interest. Inspired by a recent visit to France, Lana has deepened her artistic vocabulary to a study of colours and the mood they evoke: a strategy inspired by the colour inquiry of Impressionism.

Lana measures her painting progress over time, through her depictions of her favourite plant, the Silver Wattle. Not only are the flowers, in ever changing hues of yellow, complicated to evoke, but her main interest is in successfully capturing the colour of the leaves. When choosing her paint colours Lana muses, ”…Is it green, is it grey, or is it purple?” The truer the evocation of Silver Wattle leaves, the more skills Lana knows she has acquired.

                                                     Wandering wattles, oil on wood by Lana Daubermann                                                       Silver wattles, oil on wood by Lana Daubermann

Lana’s favourite part of the creek is the section directly to the north of Coburg Lake. She has been painting this section for over 6 years. She knows her now, in- depth knowledge of the creek, is strongly informing her work.

Lana had been so impressed by the work of FoMC and MCMC has been doing in her creek “patch” that she donated some greeting cards to the FoMC On-Line Shop. So far they have generated $2000 for FoMC, which will be used for further regenerative work for the creek.

Lana’s work can be seen on her website on https://www.lanadaubermann.com and on her Instagram handle @lanadaubermann.
She shows her work regularly, with an upcoming exhibition, inspired by Bruny Island, showing in October at Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart. Her next Melbourne show will be at fortyfivedownstairs in April 2026. Keep an eye out for her painting “en plein air,” in the shade of a lemon scented gum, by the Coburg lake area. She’s very friendly, so feel free to say hi! 

Her cards of Merri Creek can be purchased here, with 100% of the profits helping FoMC projects.

                                                                        Lana plein air by Lana Daubermann                                                                  Merri colour study, oil on canvas by Lana Daubermann