This is what’s going on at my studio:

Continuing exploration of imaginary travel. I am working on two paintings for an exciting exhibition named Assonanze opening June 2023 at Galleria De Marchi in Bologna, Italy.

The paintings create havoc with the cannons of contemporary art practice yet again. By choosing a traditional portrait format – and intimating these are portraits – for these abstract landscapes, I am playing around with both genres and, yes, messes with with my head too! WIP… stay posted!

Paintings of imaginary adventures…

Australia is a long way from so many fascinating places to visit at any time and also so close to many too. I love to travel near and far but, in a time where such adventure was prohibited, I allowed my imagination to travel for me. There is a written narrative, an understory about my childhood in these pictures but I am very excited to share the pictorial narrative for now…

Back in the studio! Overwhelming, exciting, scary but right…so many plans and dreams shattered these past 24 months but I am determined to get over it and move on. So very grateful to the many colleagues, peers and friends who remained steadfast in their support of my work (as I have of them and their’s). Let’s get on with it!!!…

My frustration! The ongoing restrictions here in Victoria, Australia – as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic – have seen me prohibited (rightly) from working in my studio for many months now. To lift my motivation levels, I decided to publish these now. They are small works from the Sibling rivalry after a storm series I completed earlier in the year. I am still playing around with the idea of combining small works like these into a large final piece. Stay posted!..

more time spent on some larger pieces. imagine this is a plan drawn in sand. I forgot how challenging working at this scale was!..

I usually use my experiences, thoughts about my place on earth, country, adventure and exploration to guide me. These current small scale works are souvenirs of somewhere I have never been…

finished and heading to Le Sm’art, 15th Salon of Contemporary Art, Aix-En-Provence in May…

these are 3 components of 16 which will form a work. once assembled, the final piece will measure 60cm x 60cm. I am entering a submission to exhibit it at the Luxembourg Prize 2020…

part of my folio for Le Sm’art Fair 2020, Aix-en-Provence…

and you are invited!..

for 20[2020] at tacit art galleries, march 2020…

for Le Sm’art Fair 2020, Aix-en-Provence…

the preparations for an exciting 2020…

currently untitled 2019 – from a seres of pictures using black, grey and vermilion – (mixed media on canvas) 55cm x 55cm

two paintings from my ‘celebrating sorrow’ series 2019 exhibited at the Galleria de Marchi, Bologna

so many opportunities. I am very grateful to have been included in a number of local and international exhibitions in the coming months. I am motivated and inspired…

back to the beginning.

but the big difference is the size: they’re big!.. these pictures are not quite finished but are an exhibition in the making…

the finished piece…

Just out of Tibooburra is a painting intended for contemplation; a painting that one may approach, stand before and reflect upon before moving on feeling different in some way.

to those unfamiliar with it, the australian outback landscape may appear to be simple, perhaps somewhat two-dimensional. that preconceived landscape is flat, lifeless and monotonous but, like most truly beautiful things, the outback has a complex and demanding character. it is an entity that, to really appreciate and understand, one must take the time to observe it with all senses. this is also how i wish the viewer to consider my simple but complex painting and discover what i find so captivating about this land.

travelling from melbourne toward cameron corner, the main and most obvious observation is the change in the color of the earth. in painting Just out of Tibooburra, i have tried to capture those subtle, unique colors of this country dotted with hardy vegetation and the curious, sculptural detritus of human habitation. i have also endeavored to capture the sounds of singing and implication that i heard; in the right setting, the viewer may even hear these mystical voices that came from the rocks and bushes.

and back to the landscapes of australia to keep me motivated. i am pretty sure this looks like it’s been painted by the same hand that captured a saint…

the fascination continues. I often feel this body of work has drawn me into some kind of labyrinth from which i will have to be rescued…

finally completed, these incredibly personal pictures are about to hang in the Galleria de Marchi, bologna…

the evolution of a saint. my brain never stops thinking about the next iteration…

I decided working on my skull pictures was worth persevering with. my friend, collaborator and jewellery maker, Lisa Lubbock, has some great ideas to make these pieces more accessible…

 not quite finished, but finally a ‘Saint Sebastion’ I am happy with…

one of four pieces as I develop my ‘portrait of an unknown saint’ series for 2019. Love them but I don’t believe I can sustain the darkness…

some small sketches for some big in-your-face golden pictures!..

is getting back to exploring the power of small works – and my appropriation of religious terminology…

I think you can hear me loud and clear; I have found the visual language with which i can express myself succinctly…

persevering with my ‘ultramarine blue with gold’ conversation. I believe i am winning the argument, finally…

 

since returning from a trip to Japan, I have felt a little fresher and relaxed on my artistic journey…

 

some carbon black and titanium white…

untitled seascape

untitled 2018

untitled landscape (black and grey on white) 2018

for a break from the big stuff, i have returned to a carefree childhood activity – making maps…with perhaps a poignant message. the working title for this one is Nongivuas Island in the Golden Sea (I have decided it is uninhabited) 2018 mixed media on folded and crumpled cartridge paper

Nongivuas Island in the Golden Sea (I have decided it is uninhabited) 2018

something about saltbush and country. a little outback inspiration that is hoping to head to Broken Hill this year…

a little darker and a little deeper…it’s all about life-long learning…

after my year at the VCA making large contemplative paintings, I am now dedicated to producing work that asks the viewer to interpret and respond with complete freedom…

it’s all happening. whilst i am have been working on my new, large scale works in 2017, I have still managed to find time to develop my small works. it’s going to be an interesting year ahead…

a little, mini exhibition in my studio…planning, planning, planning…

get ready for a whole new exhibition of truly new, big and inspired paintings like this…

part of my folio created at VCA…I am incredibly excited about the future!..

a still life…it’s working title is The last of our mother’s possessions

Green – after the rain…

Green – after the rain 2017 (oil and acrylic polymer paint on birch plywood)

some autumn inspired sea paintings…

actually this is an update! below is an image of the final version of the 2016 Phillip Island commission. My aim was to capture the beautifully unpredictable seascape of ventnor – from above, below, within and around. at 1.2m x 2.5m. It is a commanding and significant piece of work…

an exhibition confirmed! (april 6 -23 tacit contemporary art in Abbotsford)…the final touches and tweaking are what’s happening in the studio right now…invitations will be sent so see you there!

(…and that HUGE commission is complete…once the patrons have approved, i will publish a picture. i am very happy and satisfied with the final result…)

my eagerness to enter the ‘league of recycled sculptors’ has been frustrated by toxic glues (hoping to come to terms with that one soon)…luckily my big new canvas has arrived. i am now ready to start the phillip island picture!

back to the beach…these are sketches for a (very) large painting commission I am about to undertake. measuring 1.2metres x 2.5 metres it is a great challenge. my aim is to capture the environment of Phillip Island without representing it; the wind, the sea and a sense of remoteness…

this picture is a seascape i completed a few months ago called the night watch. the image below it was originally how i imagined the setting; more land than sea but i am happy with the final painting. it is an emotional response to the disappearance of MH370 and how I believe seafarers will always quietly watch out for and remember those who lose their lives at sea…

I am excited to have learned it has been has been selected to be exhibited at the 2016 AOL Maritime Art awards and exhibition at the Mission to Seafarers in Melbourne and is eligible for the awards.

…i am looking at how i can make a difference to the environment and have been inspired to recycle some of the dross at the studio into a sculpture (have to do something while i am waiting for pain to dry!)…i will write more about the inspiration and process during the week…

these are two of my little icon inspired pieces… it has taken nearly twenty years but i am now ready to paint how i was meant to…older and wiser?.. it is about the journey, believe me…