 watercolour and gouache
on paper
Angophoras
- Myall Park Botanic Garden, Summer ‘00
Summer
is my favourite time of year at the Garden as the old grey bark of the
angophoras splits to reveal wonderful rich oranges and tans in contrast
to the greys and greens of the foliage.
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acrylic on paper
Birdwatching near Broome
One of the
highlights of visiting Broome in 1999 was a birdwatching expedition to
an area known as Crab Creek. Here
thousands of waders from all over SE Asia congregate along the shores.
I found their common names quite poetic: sandpipers, stilts,
turnstones, dowitchers... Of
course they take flight the moment they are aware they are being
watched!
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lacrylic,
charcoal and pastel on paper
Black Mountain, Cloncurry
From
our truck at the showgrounds, I had a distant view of this rock, and
made several sketches of its changing colours through the day.
When a friend lent me her car to see the sights, I dashed out to
find this close-up view – it was hot, so the brushstrokes were big and
broad.
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acrylic & pastel on
paper
Calvert Hills &
Barkly
From
the open expanses of the Barkly Tableland we headed towards the Gulf
through the very different scenery of the Calvert Hills.
(We followed that cloud of dust for many kilometres – no
passing was possible, it was a triple roadtrain)
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acrylic
& mixed media on board
Campdraft Culture
In
the early morning at Martin’s Waterhole, the “donkey” is lit, the
showers are hot, and the smell of the gidgee smoke mingles with the
gentle sounds of early morning chores around the encircling camps.
This is the Saxby Roundup. This painting toured regional centres
with a Flying Arts Inc exhibition in 2002.
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acrylic on paper
Cloncurry - Mt Isa
glimpse I
The three
"Glimpse" paintings in this exhibition look
at one
of my favourite roads with a thousand different pictures around each
corner, little rocky knobs like this one, deep gullies, towering
ranges.
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acrylic on paper
Cloncurry - Mt Isa
glimpse II
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acrylic on paper
Cloncurry - Mt Isa
glimpse III
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acrylic & oilsticks
on board
25 corellas on a phone line
somewhere west of Camooweal
Seed-eating
corellas flock in their hundreds in the grasslands of the north west.
Beyond Camooweal the Barkly tableland is almost treeless, offering few
roosting opportunities - at dusk an old telephone line is well
populated.
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watercolour
& pastel on paper
Fragment
of rainbow - Mooloolaba
After
a short sharp shower, this blazing fragment of rainbow hung in the
sky and reflected in the sea below.
It was one of those moments I wished I had my camera, but if
I’d taken the photograph, would I ever have done the painting?
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acrylic & pastel on
paper
Gregory River diptych
From
the almost featureless dry landscape of our camp at Gregory River, the
river itself showed up as the usual line of dense vegetation.
Walk down the river bank and you are in a totally different world
with soft greens of paperbarks and the clear aqua of swift-flowing
water.
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acrylic
& mixed media on board
Katherine
Gorge (Nitmiluk) I
The
grandeur of the rocks is overwhelming.
No wonder the local people reflect the colours in the clothes
they wear.
Their stories are told in galleries of rock art.
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acrylic & mixed media
on board
Katherine
Gorge (Nitmiluk) II
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gouache and charcoal on
paper
Looking
out to sea - Fraser Island
I
never tire of watching the sea framed by casuarina trunks.
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acrylic
on paper textured with dry grass
Martins
Waterhole coolibahs
On
the day after the Saxby Roundup, Martin’s Waterhole on Taldora
Station reverts to its usual peacefulness.
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acrylic
on paper textured with dry grass
Martins
Waterlilies
On
the day after the Saxby Roundup, I had time to walk around
Martin’s Waterhole on Taldora Station and “smell the flowers”.
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acrylic& pastel
on paper
Nitmiluk
(Katherine Gorge)
Painted
from memory after visiting the gorge, this image lay unfinished for
several years till I could see clearly that it needed lashings of
soft pastel to set it off.
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mixed
media on board
Once was
Once
the graziers in this area ran many sheep, today the shearing shed
and sheep yard on nearly every property are for the most part
redundant.
This painting looks back to an earlier time when needs were
more simple.
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digital
artwork printed on canvas
On
the Tracks with Cobb & Co
I
found the digital medium was ideal when invited submit an
illustrated poem to the Museum.
I like playing with art on the computer, but it sets up a
yearning for brush and paint.
Perversely, in the studio I often wish I had an “undo”
button for unwanted brushstrokes!
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gouache
on paper
Osmond Range
Painted
soon after visiting the Kimberley in 1986, these two sheets were
originally framed separately.
After working them a little more I thought they had more impact
framed as one image.
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mixed
media on paper
Pioneers
Again
I have used the shape of the little tin horse (or cow?) found on a
rubbish dump at Tanbar Station.
This image conjures up the past for me very strongly and speaks
of the toil, effort and simplicity of pioneer life in the Outback.
Painted at a seminar on mixed media where I tried materials not
usually used.
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pastel
on paper
Quart Pot
Creek 1
This
pastel and the one below were done on location near Stanthorpe during an
art group trip.
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pastel on paper
Quart Pot Creek 2
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acrylic & pastel on
paper
Who goes there?
This
painting originally included a line from a song that was pestering me as
I took my daily constitutional around the creek below the house.
After many years I realised that while I liked the painting that
song had to go! Now the
message is much more simple, it’s about the animals in the area
wondering what sort of strange being wanders around in a purple t-shirt
belting out the chorus from “Edelweiss”!
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mixed
media on canvas
Spirit Dance - Carnarvon
This
is another painting evolved from that feeling I get when I know I’m
not alone in the landscape!
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pastel on paper
Whoops!
The
campdrafters in my family probably won’t relate to this very loose
impression of horse and rider parting company from the selected beast in
a tail turn!
What I wanted to capture most was the speed and the dust.
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pastel on
paper
Wreck of
the Maheno
The
rusted hulk of the freighter Maheno creates a series of brightly
coloured frames for the brilliant contrast of the sea.
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gouache on paper
Yellowcap
Yellowcap
hill is one of the highest points in our area and home to the local
television satellite receiver. It always reminds me of the Kimberley
although the mood is softer and (sometimes) greener.
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