What brings your mind back to summer? Is it that fading tan, the remnants of sand still lingering at the bottom of your bag or perhaps the taste of oysters, freshly shucked, doused in lemon and sucked down ocean side. For Auguste Blackman it is this. 

Auguste Blackman - 'The Tasmanian Coastline'

In his new series ‘Great Oyster Bay’, the artist conjures up a couple dozen works for us to savour. They are elegant, colourful jewels that inadvertently ask, why must pearls have ascendancy over beauty when their houses are like iridescent fossils?

Auguste Blackman - 'Shucking Oysters at Twilight'

Auguste painted this series after visiting Tasmania’s east coast. He recalls eating the region’s premier oysters while overlooking Dolphins Sands at Great Oyster Bay and later, shucking six dozen more in Launceston. The Blackmans were celebrating Auguste’s daughter’s birthday - and what says celebration more than oysters? 

Best served in a group, champagne to one side and a view to the other, Auguste’s oysters smack of decadence, ocean breeze and good company. They are for beach dwellers, collectors of elegant or still life art and those longing for an everlasting summer. Go on, treat yourself - the world is your oyster.

Auguste Blackman - 'Tasmanian Treasure'

See the full collection here.