Looking down from Boronia Peak in the Grampians on the tops of the gum trees and the distant plain in full mid-day sun. Australia is the brightest place I’ve ever walked and the sun can be quite a challenge to hikers. Not something I ever needed to worry about in Scotland. However hats, sun-block and … More From Boronia Peak
A small painting made in Scotland back just before I moved to Australia. I loved the way the reflections in the water were brighter than the sky and I felt as though I was floating above the sky, looking down on it. There are a few paintings over the years that I would never sell since memories … More Brig o’ Turk
“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
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.
art about place 