Plains of the earth

About

I began Plains of the earth in mid 2015 and finished the series in late 2016. The art work comprises four large coloured pencil drawings done from near Mt Hay. The first panel is a diptych with a drawing of clouds above cliffs, and the valley floor. The last panel, viewing the work left to right, is a drawing of Mt Hay. All the drawings were done sitting on the edge of the escapment looking over the Grose River gorge.

Drawing Plains of the earth

Above only sky - clouds

Above only sky - cliff line

Above only sky - valley floor

About

I started Above only sky after my father died in early September 2014. Over four months I sat on the edge of the escarpment overlooking the Grose Valley in the Blue Mountains National Park. For three to eight hours a day I drew the valley, the cliffs and the sky. The seasons changed from late winter to early spring to full blown summer. A snow storm covered the plateau on the anniversary of bush fires the year before. On the last day of drawing a lightning storm ignited a small bushfire on the western flank of the ridge leading down from Perry's Lookdown to Blue Gum forest. I was accompanied by a flock of sulphur crested cockatoos who delighted in aeronautical manoeuvres, spiralling from the cliff edge to the valley floor. Fifteen drawings resulted from the four months, twelve of which I've collected in the work Above only sky. Each of the drawings reflects the time, season, weather, birdlife, memory, thoughts, emotions and mood over the time it took to complete. Read together the drawings forming Above only sky offer a view of the valley changing over the four months. Together they present a wholeness greater than each individual drawing. Something more than a panorama locked at a single point in time.

Dad's last days

Grose Valley, Blue Mountains National Park

About

I started four months of drawing the Grose Valley with a few drawings of the central valley leading east down to the Cumberland Plains and Sydney. The changing light and weather across this expanse of Australian landscape calmed me after the death of my father and led to the twelve piece work Above only sky.

Main Range, Kosciuzsko National Park

About

I did the Main Range, Kosciuzsko National Park series of drawings from near the road head above Charlotte Pass on the walk up to Mt Kosciuszko. They were done from late February to June, late summer to early winter, 2014. Each drawing is a different time of day in a different season. Together they capture an expanse of the highest part of the Great Dividing Range that runs down the east coast of Australia.

Nesche

About

The wonderful, high energy Nesche was my housemate for a while. Convincing her to stay seated in one spot long enough to draw her was the main challenge.

Colo River drawings

About

A weekend artist's retreat on the Colo River led to these drawings and a series of paintings called 'Colo River'.

Nielsen Park, Sydney Harbour National Park

About

A series continuing my exploration through drawing of National Parks in Australia. Nielsen Park is in Sydney on the foreshores of the harbour.

Canyon Lands

About

A series further exploring dream landscapes.

Dark Mountain Country

About

My first series exploring the landscape of a dream.

The Lighthouse

About

A series based on Barrenjoey Lighthouse at Pittwater, New South Wales, Australia.

Colo River

About

Beautiful river country west of Sydney, at the foothills of the Blue Mountains.

Kakadu waterfall

About

This series was inspired by a ten day walk across the Kakadu escapement with some good friends, some of whom go back to rock climbing days in the mid '80's.

Hidden landscapes

About

I like to see where an artist comes from, the threads winding back. In case you do too, I've included here paintings from the Hidden Landscapes series I did as a student at the National Art School in Sydney in early 2000.

Flooded Dreams - documentary

About

Flooded Dreams (1997) is a 26 minute documentary telling the story of the Barkindji people's struggle to protect a large Indigenous burial site on the shores of Lake Victoria in the south west of New South Wales, Australia.

Map of the dreaming mind

About

Map of the dreaming mind is an ongoing art work of multiple layers of dreams, symbols, and landscapes of the mind. I started the map in 2008, although it has its genesis in 1988 amidst the animal like rock forms of La Pedriza outside Madrid.