Ralph Kerle's Art

24/08/2026

There is a secret place in Middle Harbour that few paddlers seem to know.

View Treecolour:
https://www.ralphkerlesart.com/products/tree

It disappears from the main waterway into a narrow, shallow channel enclosed by mangroves and native trees. Entering it feels like leaving Sydney behind.

When the water is still and sunlight enters the channel, the trees descend into the water as colour. Greens deepen into turquoise, illuminated lines flicker across the surface, and dark branches appear to float within the reflection.

The mangrove system is also recorded by the Sydney Institute of Marine Science as a breeding ground for bull sharks—an unexpected presence within such a peaceful environment.

Yet this sanctuary carries another history. Tanneries once operated throughout the surrounding Willoughby catchment, and industrial runoff travelled through waterways leading towards Middle Harbour. My own family history is connected to that industry.

Treecolour emerged from these contradictions: beauty and damage, inheritance and regeneration, stillness and unease.

Treecolour
174 × 100 cm
Signed Limited Edition Artwork of 5
A$2,750 including GST

View the artwork and read its complete story:
https://www.ralphkerlesart.com/products/treecolour

You can also join my Art Journal for the first view of new artworks and the stories behind them:
https://www.ralphkerlesart.com/blogs/the-art-journal

30/07/2026

🌊 Introducing Blue Mood, a new work from my LandEscapes collection.

Winter and the week had tested my stress levels, and I badly needed to get onto the water. As I paddled beneath the beautiful blue sky, I felt what John Burroughs described as nature putting the senses back in order.

At the same time, I have been reading Wallace J. Nichols’ Blue Mind. Returning to the studio, I recognised a wonderful symmetry between the experience of the kayak, the ideas in the book and the image before me.

Blue Mood is a visual summary of that connection: a field of blue carrying traces of movement, steadied by a quiet white horizon and the living surface of the harbour below.

🔹Explore Blue Mood on my website here https://www.ralphkerlesart.com/products/blue-mood

🔹and read the reflection on restoring the senses here https://www.ralphkerlesart.com/blogs/the-art-journal/blue-mood-putting-the-senses-back-in-order

19/07/2026

Just enjoying the sunrise on the water. Makes me feel alive in every sense.

28/06/2026

This is about my actual art practice. I can’t thank Michael Lester enough for allowing me so much time. Great interviewer!!

Innovation Talk with Michael Lester

Wednesday | 8:00am–9:00am
Radio Northern Beaches 88.7 & 90.3FM | www.rnb.org.au

This week, Michael speaks with Northern Beaches photographic artist Ralph Kerle about his journey from a successful career in the commercial creative industries to becoming an internationally exhibited contemporary abstract artist.

What began as a response to a mid-life career crisis and depression became both a creative outlet and a form of therapy. From his kayak, Ralph photographs nature's reflections on the water, transforming them into striking abstract artworks that are printed as large-scale pieces on fine art paper.

His unique vision has taken him to exhibitions, galleries and collectors around the world. Join Michael for a fascinating discussion about creativity, resilience, reinvention, and finding inspiration in the natural world.

Missed the previous episode? Catch up via the Podcast tab at www.rnb.org.au or listen here:
https://www.mixcloud.com/michael-lester5/natural-abstract-art-reflections-from-a-kayak-ralph-kerle-photographic-artist-innovn234/

24/05/2026

Photographic Portrait by Brigita Strods

21/05/2026

Introducing my new artwork, Water Map 1.

At first glance, it appears to be water — luminous, golden, shifting with reflection and light. But the longer I looked at it, the more it seemed to become something else: sand, terrain, an aerial map, a place remembered rather than photographed.

Water Map 1 sits in both my Offshore Aerial Collection and my Sand Talk Collection. It also feels like the beginning of a new series.

The work is available as Edition 1 of 5, a signed limited edition Giclée print on museum-quality paper or canvas.

Water Map 1
110 x 180 cm
Signed Limited Edition of 5
Edition 1 available
$3,300

View the artwork here:
https://www.ralphkerlesart.com/artwork-for-sale/p/water-map-1

Read the Art Journal story behind the work:
https://www.ralphkerlesart.com/the-art-journal/2026/5/19/water-map-1-a-map-made-by-water

23/04/2026

A kind of visual music written by light, water, and movement. "A Golden Score" wasn't composed—it was discovered through attention.
Own a piece of the rhythm. Limited edition signed prints are available here
https://www.ralphkerlesart.com/artwork-for-sale/p/a-golden-score

23/04/2026

There are moments in my practice where the work feels less like a creation and more like a revelation.

In my latest work, "A Golden Score," I found myself drawn to a fluid, unstable field of gold. As I stayed with the image, the reflections of rigging and masts began to organize themselves into something else entirely: a musical score.

It is a "score" that cannot be read in any fixed way. Each of you brings your own rhythm and interpretation to it.

This is a significant, large-format work perfect for a focal wall. Limited edition signed prints are now available on my website.
https://www.ralphkerlesart.com/artwork-for-sale/p/a-golden-score