Blog

With Noosa Open Studios 2025 now over for another year, I've found myself reflecting on the experience and the learnings that have happened through my interactions with this year's wonderfully engaged visitors. As always the magic of opening my studio door and waiting to see who will walk through it and what perspective they will bring is something I have come to cherish.

Many of my recent thoughts and undertakings in the studio have prompted me to consider deeply the notion of being not just an artist but also an observer.   I don't just mean in a literal sense as if I was capturing a still life in charcoal or a en plein air landscape in paint. I mean really making sense of what I am seeing by bringing a multitude of senses to moment of looking.

Being an artist is a profound experience that transcends mere creation. It involves a deep awareness of the world around us and the emotions that dwell within us in response to it. This heightened sense of perception allows us to notice nuances in the world that might often go unnoticed. The way cloud shadows scud across an expansive landscape and the way sunlight plays through the forest canopy or smaller details like the shape of a leaf; these moments become the seeds for a

In recent weeks, I've found myself encountering a series of disruptions to my work routine, which have in turn shifted my focus away from thoughts about where my work is going.   I found myself painting a door this past week, rather than a canvas...(it's a long story, which I'll be able to explain if you come and see me at open studios in October - it involves a bit of show and tell.....) Anyway; it's a strange but interesting place that feels a little bit unsettling....

With my recent printing experiments now brooding quietly on the studio bench and as I wonder where to go next with them, I've been tuning into the importance of experimentation. Stepping beyond tried and proven processes or techniques and embracing working with new materials is always a step into the unknown. And one to be relished rather than feared!

I've been thinking a lot about the role of the creator and the role of the viewer, in the creative process and how they are intrinsically intertwined, much like dance partners.....Salsa, Waltz, Disco.... take your pick!   Art by its very nature is a collaborative experience between the artist and the audience. The artist makes the painting with an intention (generally, but not always) that other people should see it at some point and that the work be shared with others.