This month of featuring landscapes is under way. I am a bit excited about showing you more of these! I hope you will enjoy the variety as much as me. For this post, the theme is (drum roll……………..) TREES! My father, a real lover of nature, spent many hours looking at leaves, examining seed pods … More Look out for landscapes
I have chosen this month of July to feature Landscapes. Why? There is something about winter that drives us indoors. Obviously, to keep warm. But with that comes lots of nice comforting things. Log fires, rugs, soups and stews, cosiness, nestling in. And then daydreams, books and memories. For me, the home retreat needs a … More July – featuring landscapes!
There are more than 400 species of eucalyptus. They are ubiquitous in the ‘classical’ genre of Australian landscape painting. South Australian artist Hans Heysen was the master painter of these majestic trees. Reproductions of his paintings were in every primary school, along with the portrait of the Queen. Hans Heysen images The gum tree is … More Good old gum trees
Two pages with two pens poised! And I only write left-handed. Oops, I forgot it is all via a keyboard. Two different sites really. Some of you may have noticed one less blogger tapping at your inbox. I feel it’s time to report in. In March this year I undertook an Art Business course to … More A pen poised over two pages
Last year’s visit to the Baltic on the bank of the River Tyne in Newcastle gave me a chance to see the work of two artists, both new to me: Tony Swain and Ida Ekblad. It is a contemporary gallery and past visits have challenged and rewarded me. This was no different. I need your … More Exhibitions at the Baltic, Newcastle
Here is a draft abandoned two years ago. I have to say that it took most of the next two years to feel free of Rome’s effect on me. Perhaps self-indulgent to publish after all this time, but it is better out than in. Do you know about the human body’s healing process? I can’t … More “Off to Rome…” Chapter 2
Deadlines are killers aren’t they? Well, at a desk job certainly. And perhaps most certainly when you are working for someone else. For an artist it can be different. Time pressure is the essence of plein air painting and sometimes the best results come out of that enforced ‘shorthand’. On the other hand, studio painting … More The upside of deadlines
I will never forget my trips to Kangaroo Island. Most were full of joyous expectation so the trip was coloured with delight. The crossing of Backstairs Passage between Cape Jervis and Penneshaw KI takes about 45 minutes and there are times when I have stood on deck for most of this time, just watching the … More Painting water
It is so nice to see the sun in an English garden. It enlivens everything. The very green grass, the dappled shade, the shapes and layering of the foliage all take on new life when the clouds lift. And so it was late this afternoon, two days after the summer solstice. Foxglove with a chili … More A summer afternoon in the garden
“How did it go in Sydney?” “Different, but really well!” “So why was it different?” It is a mystery I can’t explain. Is it the difference between Adelaide and Sydney markets? Or patterns of life? Gallery locations? The opening night was actually the 6th night of the exhibition. When we arrived there was a dazzling … More Exhibition sales! breathing colours, Balmain
seascapes aus 