“Even the rude Rocks, the mossy Caverns, the irregular unwrought Grottos and unbroken Falls of waters, with all the horrid Graces of the Wilderness itself, as representing Nature more, will be the more engaging, and appear with a Magnificence beyond the formal Mockery of Princely Gardens.” Anthony Ashley Cooper, earl of Shaftsbury. 1709 Boronia Peak … More Horrid Graces
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
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
Around 2006 I lived in Northumberland for about a year. I didn’t make many pictures during that time, but this is one of my favourites. New spring leaves on birch trees.
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.
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
art about place 