I grew up in Fife in Scotland. It’s a region of two halves: in the north, arable farming, golf and a university made famous by recent royals; in the south, the ghosts of coal mining, fishing and ship building. Methil no more, as the Proclaimers remind us. In Margaret Thatcher’s 80’s I worked with kids … More Fife
Sketches from a hike around Cwmorthin slate mine near Blaenau Ffestiniog in north Wales. Quarrying on the site started in 1810 and finally ended in 1997. During the late 1800’s conditions in the mine were so bad that the place gained its nickname “the slaughterhouse”. When the sun’s out, it’s a pleasant enough valley but … More The Slaughterhouse
The miners who made their fortune during the gold rush in Victoria were rare. Fortunes were made, right enough, but they were made by mine consortia, general goods suppliers, transport and post companies and, last but not least, saloon owners. When I’m bushwalking and painting out in the Goldfields I think about those miners, mostly … More Gold
Although I went through art school between 1981 and 1985, I don’t consider anything I made before this painting to be really “me”. Art school was great, don’t get me wrong. It was four years of hanging out with other folks and making art. And drinking beer. What’s not to like? The thing is, the … More The first painting
A selection of images from the Broken Ground sequence. Most of these works were painted during my stint as Artist in Residence at Ballarat University in 2010. In the post-mining landscape of the Goldfields region surrounding Ballarat little remains of the buildings and mechanism involved in the Victorian gold rush. The evidence for the dramatic upheaval … More Broken Ground
The rhythm of walking through the bush: footfalls, the way the trees appear and disappear as I pass, and how the light changes, is like having a stream of music playing in my head. There is a strong rhythmic element in many of my paintings for that reason. The title is taken from Lines Written … More A thousand blended notes
art about place 