As I write this it’s mid afternoon and four degrees here in Ballarat. But then, it’s midwinter, and the change of seasons is part of the fun at 450m above sea level. In the summer it will be over 40 degrees, by 11am each morning my studio will be too hot to work in, acrylics … More Hot hot hot
One of the first paintings I made in Australia. This was a result of my first visit to the Grampians. Now, there are Grampians back home in Scotland, but they’re nothing like these ones, despite Major Mitchell’s contention when he named them during one of his surveying expeditions for the British Empire. I was used to … More Grampians (Gariwerd) V
This walking track near Daylesford is named after the sad story of three young boys who disappeared on 30th June 1867 and sparked a three week search. The story made the papers in Europe and America. How they became lost, when so many people reported seeing them at different locations, seemingly happy and knowing where they were, … More Three Lost Children
Water! I moved to Australia in the middle of a drought. There had been below average rainfall for several years so it was quite something to see this river crossing with some water in it. Billabongs and creeks all over the state were dry and, being a noob in this land, I imagined that it was … More O’Brien’s Crossing
Uh oh, more old stuff. I think this might be the last painting I made in this vein. Not only Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro, but a whole sleeve pinched from his Supper at Emmaus. It’s a homage of sorts to Joseph Wright of Derby and to the movie Robocop wherein a similar family pastime is advertised. Post-modern? I … More From the Vaults II
I went for a walk early one morning through a forest. A couple of months earlier there had been what are known as “controlled burns” through this area. Controlled burning is a way of removing the undergrowth that may become tinder during the fire danger season of high summer and hopefully reduce the risk of the … More Where the Wild Things Will Be
art about place 