Blog

To be selected as a finalist this year was really an honour, the calibre of work on show was simply stunning and wonderfully diverse, from prints to ceramics, paintings, photographs and sculptures. 'Rustlers' found it's way through the undergrowth to celebrate the biodiversity of our region and wave the flag for our beautiful Blue Tongue lizards, which go quietly about their business without making a fuss, rustling carefully through the leaf litter in the back gardens and bus

I came home from running a workshop last week on a sunny afternoon and was struck by how lovely and inviting my studio looked at the end of the driveway, surrounded by lush greenery, and over hanging trees. The doorway suddenly presented itself as a portal into a world where magical things could happen.

I was recently invited, by my artist friend Dale Leach and the Tinbeerwah Art Group in the Noosa Hinterland, to deliver a print and collage workshop to current members. Packing the car with all my supplies left me without doubt about being a travelling circus! I had to set the stage for what was to come, so off I went armed with artwork, sketchbooks, works-in-progress, paints, papers, boxes of stencils and textures, printing plates and rollers.....

Tranquil green spaces in cities seem exceptionally restorative, perhaps because they are so closely juxtaposed with the built environment, heightening the differences between the two. Public gardens and parklands have so much to offer the wandering artist! Texture, colour, contrast, light and shade all dynamically applied in the real world, far from the easel and the confines of the studio. These beautifully planned and tended places offer journeys and breathing space.

Welcome to the first edition of autumn! I'm not sure if we really had a summer to speak of, it was so wet and wild day after day. Enjoy this month's Studio News, feel free to share with friends and family!

My paintings always reach a point where I need to let them sit for a while. I prop them up on the easel or hang them on the wall and distance myself from the making of them and reduce my interaction with them so that in effect I become nothing more than a passerby. It's in these moments that my focus becomes less intense and I can find myself feeling a bit adrift, no longer anchored physically and cognitively by that artwork.