Marking Time 2022 charcoal, pastel and gouache on Hahnemuhle paper 122 x 80 cmWisps 2022 oil on canvas 61 x 122 cmSeen Better Days(Remembering Granny) 2004 – 22 gesso & pastel on paper 62x84cm (This work will probably go through the wringer again and re-emerge in a new light, again).
Observational drawing is a practice of mine where I don’t have to think too much. The subject sits undemandingly, in front of me and doesn’t ask for anything. It’s a good way to de-stress.
My life has generally always been and still is, a bit…. chaotic. I find solace making these meditative works. They are like a song, like poetry and they have a calming effect. I chill out into another place.
Sometimes I listen to an audio book, sometimes music, but very often, I listen to the outside bush and bird noises.
2022 has seen me revisiting old ideas and old works on which I build new ideas and new works.
Edges of Silence oil on canvas 122 x 61 cmUncertain Silence oil on canvas 120x60cmCalmly Waiting oil on canvas 120 x 60cmWhite Shadows pastel, gouache, charcoal on Hahnemuhle paper 80 x 120 cmReeds acrylic and Sennelier ink on canvas 30 x 40 cm
Covid comforts. I worked on small mixed media works during the 2021 lockdowns and on the occasional large work (some still in progress).
Stormy Weather series
Each of the small works has a torn edge and is float mounted with a dark timber frame. the two larger works are float mounted with a limed timber frame. All are mixed media on Hahnemuhle paper. Unless otherwise indicated, all are for sale.
Distant Storm 11 x 8.5cm
Crashing Shoreline 11.5 x 15.5cm
Gale Force 10.5 x 8 cm
Into the Wind 10.5 x 8 cm
Rough Surf 11.5 x 16 cm
Sand Bar 12 x 7.5 cm
Shallows 11 x 9 cm
Winter Winds 11.5 x 8 cm
Wangaratta Watercolours
Out of the storm and into the calm.
A very short escape to the outskirts of Wangaratta on the Ovens River in Victoria resulted in some small watercolours painted en plein air. All are WN watercolour and graphite on Magnani paper and all are float mounted and framed with thin dark timber, with the exception of “Unsettled Landscape”, which has a limed timber frame. All are for sale.
River Beach 10.5 x 8 cm
River Valley 9.5 x 7 cm
River Walk 12 x 14.5 cm
Unsettled Landscape 10 x 15 cm
PeachyBeachy works
Randomly chosen and reworked. Each is gouache and Sennelier ink on paper and each measures 13 x 18 cm. Each is float mounted and framed with a limed timber frame.
As the year moved on, my work got calmer.
Washing those thoughts away When we were youngOcean (Hawkes Nest)
Postcards from the Beach
All of these works are float mounted and framed in a dark grey timber frame. They work well as a set but could be displayed separately. They were all started one long weekend at Greenwell Point on NSW south coast and finished in 2021 in my studio. They are pastel and gouache on Khadi paper. Each work measures 11 x 15 cm.
RestingMooredLong ShadowsInto the Sun
Finally, back to the Gymea Lily
The Gymea Lily is a magnificent, majestic primeval flower that towers above the ground and is found mostly on the east coast of NSW, especially around Sydney. It has sword-like leaves more than 1 metre long and it grows a flower spike up to 6 metres high. They are beautiful!
I tied this lily to an easel with its stem dipping into a bucket of water, and over 3 weeks, I drew it. I was keen to incorporate the slow opening of the flower over time and to capture that within one drawing. That first drawing traces the slow changes that the lily was starting to go through.
This work is framed with a generous sized neutral mount and a plain matte black frame. Total dimensions are 140 x 106 cm.
The Majestic and Primeval Gymea Lily 104 x 74 cm pastel and charcoal
Then, as time went on, another work was created. This watercolour is float mounted and box framed in a dark red /brown timber frame.
Withering Gently 72 x 43cm watercolour and ink on Hahnemuhle paper. SOLD
Finally, to end the year, this watercolour of the lily was created with gusto. Good bye 2021!
Frazzled 76 x 51 cm watercolour, ink and graphite on Stonehenge paper adhered to a stretched canvas.
Another Covid year sees me calmly, slowly, picking through stuff trying to toss some, revitalise some and create some newies.
Lazy Weekend pastel and gouache on gessoed Hahnemuhle paper 80 x 122cmGymea Lily pastel and charcoal on gessoed Hahnemuhle paper 104 x 74cm Finalist in Fisher’s Ghost Contemporary 2021Drawing Drawing Drawing pastel on colorfix paper 46 x 53cm
Although the sounds, smells, textures and views of the mountain behind me are constant sources of inspiration, the recent catastrophes of drought, floods, bushfires and Covid, have provided fodder for much of my current work. The creation of something of beauty, calm and optimism, are possibly my emotional diversions as I explore the sad, fragile and terrible beauty of our world.
My pictures have their roots in the real world, but are by no means images in the conventional sense. I don’t copy my subjects, I interpret them. Sometimes the materiality of my medium takes a dominant role and I become engrossed in its unique qualities.
Using acrylic and oil paints, collage and mixed media, I create rapidly at first, keeping up with my thoughts. Then I let the work rest for an hour, a day, a year or a decade, as if it needs an incubation period. I eventually re-see what has been created and finish the work.
I revisit many ideas, resulting in the continuous presence of common, sometimes tenuous, threads that mirror my life and experiences.
I work from my immediate responses to both tangible and intangible subjects like bushfire, illness, sunshine, quiet, uncertainty and blend them with memory. The list goes on and so my work evolves that way.
All works that have not sold already are still for sale:
While 2020 has been a bit still, a bit quiet, many of us are still beavering away, keeping occupied, keeping safe.
Views of a Summer on Edge Mixed media on 8 10x10cm canvases 10 x 100 cm Finalist: Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra Regional Gallery 2020 SOLDA Summer on Edge Mixed media on 5 10x10cm canvases 10 x 60 cm Finalist: Gosford Art Prize 2020Ravaged Land mixed media and collage on canvas 91 x 122 cm Finalist: Fisher’s Ghost Contemporary Art Award 2020Lost Summer mixed media on board 13 x 23 cmEerie Coast mixed media on board 13 x 23 cm SOLDBeach Holiday mixed media on board 13 x 23 cmShifting Ground Oil and acrylic on canvas 91 x 120cm
So, now I am revisiting works from which I will pick up threads to develop new works.
I loved, and still do, love these.
Woolshed mixed media on canvas 100 x 75 cm SOLD Corner Mixed media on canvas 73 x 122 cm SOLDRhythm in Light at Kinchega (diptych) Wooden stretcher wedges on gator board 56 x 46 and 56 x 56 cm SOLDFound Sounds Mixed media on Khadi paper on Arches paper 155 x 110 cmNight Noises graphite on Arches paper 100 x 230 cm Finalist: 33rd Alice Prize, Alice Springs (2004)Silence and Memory oil and acrylic on canvas 120 x 60 cm SOLDSilence and Sadness acrylic and oil on canvas 120 x 60 cm SOLDLandscape for the Blind (diptych) mixed media on canvases 73 x 120 cmWalking with Thomas and Matisse (diptych) 240 x 150cm acrylic on canvas SOLD Finalist: Fisher’s Ghost Open, Campbelltown City Arts Centre 2012Road Trip West pastel on Whatmans paper 56 x 76 cm SOLDDesert Meeting (Margaret meets Agnes at Ernabella) oil on canvas 91 x 138 cm SOLD Finalist: Fisher’s Ghost Open, Campbelltown City Arts Centre 2013Beyond the Back Fence (diptych) acrylic on canvas 81 x 162 cm SOLD10pm oil and acrylic on canvas 120 x 240 cm SOLD Finalist: Fisher’s Ghost Open, Campbelltown City Arts Centre 2011Lament graphite and shellac on paper 56 x 76 cm SOLDNo Regrets Graphite and shellac on paper 56 x 76 cm SOLD Highly Commended: Lyn McCrea Drawing Award, Noosa Art Gallery, 2016Joy oil on canvas 110 x 80 cm SOLD
We seem to be heading for further lock down restrictions.
Hello studio!
News since I last posted includes my selection as a finalist in the Stanthorpe Art Prize. Due to Covid, this exhibition has been postponed until February 2021!!! Quite a few exhibitions have been cancelled, postponed or gone to online only. Many have thoughtfully waived or reduced their entry fees.
So, here are images of works that represent what I have been, and am, up to at the moment.
Disenfranchised Grief charcoal and pastel on Hahnemuhle paper 122 x 80 cmRavaged Landscape Mixed media collage and oil stick on canvas 91 x 122 cmWhispering Stillness Watercolour on Hahnemuhle paper on canvas 102 x 76 cmAnd then came Covid Charcoal, pastel and gesso on Hahnemuhle paper 122 x 80 cmKnowing Charcoal and pastel on paper, scratched. 98 x 66 cmAngst Graphite on paper, collage, woven paper. 54 x 84 cmOld Man Look at your Life Pastel, graphite and collage on paper 72 x 46 cm Uncertainty Mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cmApprehension Mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cmTrepidation Mixed media on canvas 50 x 50 cmBush Fire Acrylic on canvas 30 x 30 cm SOLD The Calm Oil and oil stick on canvas 91 x 122 cmDurras Reeds Remembered Acrylic and ink on canvas 30 x 40 cmLost Summer, a Grieving Process oil on canvas 61 x 76 cmRemembered Place with Red Sun Watercolour on BFK Rives paper on canvas 45 x 34 cm Remembered Place Watercolour on BFK Rives paper on canvas 45 x 34 cm Finalist: Kangaroo Valley Arts Festival, 2020Thoughts and Prayers oil on canvas 182 x 91 cm Finalist: Calleen Art Prize, Cowra Regional Art Gallery, 2020Terrible Beauty oil and acrylic on paper on canvas 76 x 76 cm SOLD
I am not so much interested in the subject as such, but rather what the subject can do for me as a vehicle of expression. The windy landscape is not about landscape or wind, but about uncertainty and immediacy, rawness and exposure, and the colours are accordingly chosen, maybe, to contradict all that!
I am pleased to have had this work (below) selected as a finalist in the Stanthorpe Art Prize.
My Brother’s Country is on Fire oil and acrylic on canvas 61 x 51 cm
I work from my immediate responses, both tangible and intangible. I was thinking about my brother whose land in northern NSW was engulfed by bush fire earlier this year. My approach with the paint was rapid at first, as were my thoughts.
I often work in series and this, being no exception, is a follow up from an earlier one which I needed to leave for fear of overworking it. Most often, I need a sort of incubation period, after which I return to the work to assess it for changes or corrections. I was desperate to keep the freshness so I quickly photographed and varnished it to avoid any “tidying up” that I am so often succumb to.
My brother is a proud keeper of the land, and I knew that he would see this as part of its evolution. And with that, a new beauty would emerge.
Pre-bushfire works, below, are in the summer exhibition at the Milk Factory Gallery, Bowral.
The Last Day of March 2019 acrylic and oil on canvas 91 x 91 cmthese 4 works are all oil on canvas, 30 x 30 cm. Remembered WalkSOLD Burnt Out SOLD
I am pleased to announce that I have been selected as a finalist for the 2020 John Villiers Outback Art Prize at the Waltzing Matilda Centre in Winton, Queensland (6 March to 8 May).
Dirt Tree Rock Water acrylic and oil on canvas 61 x 76 cm
These 3 works are part of the 20(2020) exhibition at TACIT Galleries in Collingwood, Melbourne which celebrates the Gallery’s 20th anniversary!
Artists who have shown with TACIT were invited to show up to 3 works each measuring 20 x 20 inches (52 x 52 cm). Should be interesting.
Here are my 3 works which have resulted by the summer we should not have had. My thoughts and therefore my work this year, since December, have been underscored by bush fires, evacuations, smoke and many friends’ losses, stresses and survival.
Apprehension, Uncertainty and Trepidation mixed media and collage on canvases 50 x 50 cm each
The recent bush fire season and its ramifications keep creeping into my work at the moment:
Embers oil on canvas 61 x 61 cm REPAINTED A Summer on Edge mixed media and collage 10 x 10 cm canvases
More …… Views from a Summer on Edge
Views of a Summer on Edge Mixed media and collage 9 10 x 10 cm canvases
My pictures have their roots in the real
world, but are by no means images in the conventional sense. I don’t copy my
subjects but interpret them. Sound, smell and touch play an important role.
Using collage and mixed media, I create rapidly
at first, keeping up with my thoughts. Then I let the work rest for an hour, a
day, a year or a decade, as if it needs an incubation period. I then re-see
what has been created and finish the work.
“I work from memory of 10 minutes ago and 50 years ago”. (David Hockney)
That Day’s Fire Painting acrylic, pastel, eggshells and collage on paper on canvas 36 x 28 cm