From the Vaults I

Here we go then. In the quest for complete honesty and full disclosure, here is a painting from art school. I was 21 when I painted it back in 1985. This was part of my honours show at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee. It was probably my most successful work from that year, … More From the Vaults I

Near Smeaton

As evidenced by this painting, there isn’t an awful lot near Smeaton, a small town north of Ballarat. I make a lot of “busy” paintings, probably because visually there’s a lot going on in the forest. It’s complicated and messy. Trees stick out at odd angles. Stuff falls over. The whole place looks like an … More Near Smeaton

Japanese Garden

It was a damp and overcast late winter day when I sketched this azalea in the Japanese Garden in St. Mawgan in Cornwall. Its flowers held a promise of spring that was a long time coming that year. The painting was made safely back in the warmth of the studio.

Inna Gadda da Vida

Finally, after trawling the archives, I get to put up a new painting. Just completed, it’s a painting of the Swiss-Italian gardens at Lavandula Lavender Farm near Daylesford. Go there and have the share plate. This is from a sketch of their fabulously ornamental vegetable plots: onions and nasturtiums and, hmmm, nigella maybe? Not entirely sure. For … More Inna Gadda da Vida

And pallid evening twines its beaming hair

Looking north from Mt Buninyong. I like a volcano, even an extinct one, so I’m pretty happy with the number dotted around Ballarat. The one in the foreground is Mt. Warrenheip. And the title? Well, I have been painting for around 30 years, and I have been calling each painting something prosaic like Ballarat Lane XXVIII, which … More And pallid evening twines its beaming hair