Before I arrived in Australia I assumed I would go straight to the desert and paint the sort of iconic (to Brits at least) Australian landscape that I had seen in galleries and art books. I assumed I would need a lot of red paint. I settled in Melbourne, then in Ballarat and so far, ten years later, … More Otways
There’s probably a cool Zen way to say this, but I’m not really interested in the “thingness” of things. When I paint, I’m mostly concerned with how it feels to be in an environment, not what it looks like, and certainly not what the individual items are. These are not trees, they are patches of … More Metaphor and the thingness of things
I love Australia, but falling asleep in paddocks of long grass is not a recommended pastime here. Most folks around the world associate Australia with a wide range of exotic animals that will kill you as soon as look at you. It’s a reputation many Aussies are keen to foster from the comfort of their urban pavement latte MacBooks, … More Meadows and picnics
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
