Making your art meaningful
Art isn’t just about what’s on the canvas—it’s about the story behind it.
I had the privilege of painting Swan Bay in Newcastle while sitting alongside my father, Craig Semple. After a long career as a detective in the New South Wales Police Force, he has turned to writing, capturing stories with words the way I do with watercolours.
As I layered soft blues and earthy tones onto my paper, he sat beside me, crafting his own form of art—descriptive writing that painted the scene in words. It was a collaboration of two creative worlds, where brushstrokes and sentences blended to capture not just the landscape but the emotions and memories within it.
This experience reminded me that art gains depth when it’s connected to something personal—whether it’s a place, a person, or a shared moment. Meaningful art isn’t just seen; it’s felt. It tells a story, sparks emotion, and invites others to connect with it in their own way.
So, next time you create, ask yourself: What’s the story behind this? You might find that the deeper meaning makes your work all the more powerful.
Below is the art piece and descriptive writing talked about above.
by Hugh Semple.
Close in, through shallow water, dark beds of submerged weed break up the light turquoise of sunlight, reflected off the sandy sea floor.
Further out, an assemblage of vessels spreads out wide along the waterfront, tethered to anchors deep below the surface.
Small cabin boats, large flybridge motor cruisers and sleek hulled yachts, stand to attention like maritime soldiers on parade.
A warm, humid, gusty wind whips across the bay, feathering the lake surface and commanding the vessels to ‘face front’. Some swing out of order but are quickly whisked back into formation by the buffeting, salty breeze.
Masts stand tall and proud, with flapping stays ringing like bells across the dark, green, deeper water. To stern, thick forests of mangroves frame the distant shore while overhead, dark gray clouds maintain a heavy, menacing presence.
This, is a Swan Bay afternoon.
Written by author Craig Semple.