It’s amazing how often this corner of Australia conjures environments that I didn’t expect despite all my European perspective tourist-guide-book research. And then, occasionally, it looks just like my imagined Australia: dry dirt roads, endless clear sky, dust and a landscape punctuated by mysterious agricultural structures. Some paintings seem to flow effortlessly while others, like this one, are … More Moon Road
I had the sudden urge to draw really big drawings of picture hooks. On old packing cases. Some might say this is the result of spending too much time in windowless galleries “handling” art. I say you could be very close to the truth. With most of my work, I’m a stickler for cripplingly expensive … More The Middle-Class Hero and the Diaspora
Still life. Nature Morte. My dad used to paint still lives because they were good for you. Like barley malt or Lane’s Emulsion, a ghastly fish-tasting concoction from New Zealand that was forced down my throat as a child. Ah, happy days. So, stuck in the house still suffering from the lung ailments the emulsion failed to cure and … More Apple Blossom
If you head north from Ballarat, Mount Tarrengower near Maldon is the last hill of any size for miles. Views like this are common in Victoria, where mountains rise out of the plains with no real foothills to soften the change and the plains seem to stretch away forever into the desert. I’m guessing the … More North from Tarrengower
For me, walking is a means of transport as much as anything. I prefer to live at walking speed and look at stuff as I stroll along. Maybe this is more of a European thing as the pavements are pretty much deserted here, while the traffic buzzes and toots and roars beside me. Or maybe … More Flâneur 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