The interest of this subject, the street in Crows Nest, Sydney, where I live, lay in the combination of entities, each in itself having pictorial value: the foliage, rich in late autumn attire, the colours turning by the day, the low early sun, animating shadows across the pavement and fences, and the actors, or trees, forcing a strong sense of perspective.
These entities, contribute to the complete picture yet in a sense all make their rival claims to the viewer.
Where The Shadows Play Acrylic on board 43 x 43cms
After 12 weeks away, it feels deeply satisfying to be back in the studio, surrounded by paint, ideas, and works slowly finding their way into the world.
I’m currently preparing for an exhibition in mid-August that will bring together two distinct bodies of work. One centres on trees and the endlessly captivating relationship they have with light. It is this shifting space between what we see and what we feel that I have been exploring.
This work in progress is inspired by the Pieman River in Tasmania’s Tarkine Forest, which I visited earlier this year. It is a landscape of remarkable beauty and quiet power. I’ve included a few of those sketches alongside details from the painting, offering a glimpse into the journey from observation to finished work.
The final three images are paintings from my time @ngcreativeartresidency in Provence.
As the exhibition draws closer, it’s exciting to see these different threads coming together. I’m very much looking forward to the opening and hope that, if you’re in Sydney, you’ll be able to join me.
If you haven’t already subscribed to my newsletter, I’d love for you to sign up. I’ll be sharing exhibition updates, behind the scenes insights into the work, and early information about workshops that my partner, @debbiemackinnon and I will be presenting in 2027. Simply head to my website (link in bio) and wait for the box to pop up asking for details.
Thank you, as always, for following along and supporting my practice. After time away, it feels especially good to be back in Sydney, back in the studio, and back making work....
MOROCCO I’m back from 11 weeks travel- so many sketchbooks, so many fabulous memories. Morocco was such a highlight! Many thanks to Rita at @amazigh_art_tours and our wonderful group of artists. I won’t forget this amazing experience and the warmth of the people we encountered. Keep watching for a few highlights…
A4 sketchbook opens to A3, watercolour paper 300 GSM from @winsorandnewtonau All painted in gouache also from Winsor and Newton
No matter how fast my scribbles might be, each page in this book contains so many memories. Keep watching for a glimpse of some of my days out drawing in Italy and France. Heading home later today with a case full of marks on paper and a head full of new ideas.
They say a farmers market is nature’s way of showing off! All I can say is the market mood here in Place Monge was ripe and thriving!!
The only thing that made me want to paint this busy market in Place Monge was the sharp morning light spilling through the canvas awnings! The stripes immediately caught my eye, a fabulous backdrop to the vendors busy service!
And on to dinner at Place de la Contrescarpe just two minutes walk from our apartment. You may have heard that temperatures across Europe are high and Paris is no exception!
This last light of the sun clinging to the side of the buildings opposite like it wasn’t ready to leave and the mercury still at 30c. Australia is going to feel pretty cold by the time we get home.
Both works in gouache. And lastly a sketch of the same location in the last pages of my scribble pad.
Lunch in the shade in a quiet square of the Marais. The light and shadows played across cafes and restaurants and a cool beer slipped down easily as I sketched away, hardly taking the pen off the paper. I like the detail pics, which completely abstract the subject yet still allow recognition. Drawn with @staedtlerau pigment pen and shaded with @tombowau wash pens.
And talking of abstraction, what a fantastic morning @museepicassoparis So many exciting works, the last piece, a sculpture entitled Guitar, being my favorite!
I like the way rivers move with a kind of sleepy stillness.
Paris in summer at 31c is never truly silent, but beside the Seine there are moments when colour and light seem to slow time itself.
Taking time out in the shade of trees, this quick gouache sketch catches that fleeting calm, the shimmer of reflected light, the coolness beneath the bridge arches, and the quiet hush that settles over the water when the heat begins to ease.
Pont d’Austerlitz near Ile Saint Louis.
Swipe to see a second piece looking directly across the water of Quai Henri IV.
A selection of the incredible work from the artists at our @uptrekcom workshop. They have taken on the challenges of new and diverse landscapes and still life, broken old habits and developed new approaches to creating vibrant and very personal sense of painting in sketchbooks.
Big ups to them all and huge thanks to our hosts here at la_palanque here in the now hot and sunny Dordoigne.
Exercises in colour and composition here at our @uptrekcom workshop in the beautiful Dordogne. From initial black-and-white sketches in bustling markets to vibrant colour studies of the landscape, the week has been full of exploration and creativity.
Our venue, @la_palanque, has provided a series of stunning locations, and alongside @debbiemackinnon we’ve been putting our artists through a wide range of rigorous and rewarding exercises. The results have been incredible, and I’ll be sharing a selection of their work tomorrow.
The rich chorus of birdsong and the aromatic scent of lavender. The beautiful @la_palanque home for our @uptrekcom art workshop.
Just outside the small historic town of Eymet in south west France, with my partner @debbiemackinnon we are working with thirteen wonderful artists from far flung corners of the world, guiding and encouraging their skills in creating dynamic sketchbooks.
What a terrific group they are, committing themselves to new ideas and fast and loose techniques.
Off to a great start at our @uptrekcom workshop in beautiful @la_palanque in south-west France. A couple of my fast and loose demonstration sketches of white asparagus.
After fourteen wonderful days, my time at NG Art Creative Residency has come to an end.
It has been inspiring, rewarding, and great fun. I’ve produced a strong collection of observational studies and sketches exploring the surrounding landscape of Provence.
The residency has also given me valuable time to reflect on my practice, challenge my ways of seeing and working, and experiment with new methodologies and approaches.
Our hosts, Nicky, Edwin and Liz have made us so very welcome and it’s been a joy to work alongside other creatives in the studio. So many great memories.
Tomorrow we move north to an art workshop, where I am looking forward to teaching and exploring ideas with a group of artists from all over the world.
This painting explores the way colour can hold emotion before a landscape is ever fully understood. The scene is built through fragments of deep ultramarine, violet, black, and pale lavender, where trees emerge less as fixed forms and more as sensations remembered in low light. Rather than describing a specific place, the painting leans into atmosphere, the feeling of walking through a landscape at dusk, when shapes soften and colour begins to carry the weight of perception.
Ultimately, the painting considers how light changes not only what we see, but what we feel.
Walking into the mountains from @ngcreativeartresidency it only takes a few steps to leave the road behind and disappear into Provence’s high country, where wild rosemary scents the air, cicadas soundtrack the afternoon, and colour seems to paint itself across the trees. This landscape has a way of slowing time. Oh, to be in Provence.
Settling nicely into the quiet tranquil of the @ngcreativeartresidency here in deepest Provence. A wonderful welcome from Nicky, Edwin, Liz and a great group of artists sharing the studio. I am already feeling at home.
It always takes me a while to adjust to a new landscape before the ideas start to develop. So much to take in from the landscape, olive groves and vineyards and the beautiful local towns of Lausanne-les-Alpilles and Eygalieres.
The market today in St Remy was fantastic! And the local hills and mountains are spectacular. Swipe to see my sketches.
