- Jan 10
- 4 min read

Studio News - January 2024

What do you do with your leftovers? They seem to be everywhere!

Scraps of paper, snippings and trimmings, blobs of paint and well used palette paper....

To kick off the new year I decided I'd begin, not by having a studio tidy up and a clear-out, as would seem fitting for starting afresh, but by casting around to see what usable paint and paper remnants I had on the bench.

I leaned into the knowledge that a neat-as-a-pin workspace leaves me feeling somewhat bereft of sparks and nudges!

I had an interesting collection of colours in paint and scraps of printed paper - some of which I made a couple of years ago. It was quite a motley collection but I set too anyway to see what emerged as I tried to resolve some of these leftovers into a new sketch.

But the end result wasn't the precious find I assumed I was looking for.

During the making process I began to realise that my new sketches and paintings almost always have their beginnings firmly rooted in the leftover endings of the previous work and that 'sketching' is a way to transform them into something new.

And this insight into my own working process was the true find.

Understanding that time spent 'sketching' is an essential part of my creative evolution. My sketches aren't just a place to practice looking and responding, nor are they attached to any notion of productivity. They are simply and undeniably an essential and intrinsic part of what enables my bigger paintings to come into being. I need to spend time freely exploring colours, shapes and lines with no preconceived ideas, in a spontaneous way.

And what better way to open my eyes to new ideas and possibilities than by beginning with worthless paper scraps and old runny paint and seeing where and how far these leftovers will take me.

Using up paint that might otherwise be washed away or snippets of paper that might end of in the waste bin allows me to freely set out on along the road to discovery. I'm not precious about the materials or the sketching paper I work on.

I have a free pass to just go off and explore, it's costing me nothing but energy, which I have in abundance!

And that's the gem.

Beginning 2024 with a sense of freedom and leftovers tucked firmly into my pocket is quite the best way to kick start my creative year.

Balck and White Botanical Sketches and Prints

Recently I've spent some time out of the studio exploring shapes and lines in my immediate environment. With a sketchbook, black and white paint, a handful of drawing media and a small gel plate, I've been looking for shapes and lines in the foliage. The idea was just to gather visual information and practice just 'noticing' and 'capturing'.

In my latest blog post you can take a video-look-through my sketchbook with me and read my notes as I share my thoughts on the process of working with limited materials and colours as I went off on this little tangent!

Check out the sketch that prompted this months musings: 'The Leftovers'.

Red Hill Gallery's popular annual sale is on again!

Don't miss your chance to purchase your favourite works with 25-50%, off for two weeks only.

Check out the extensive online catalogue or drop into the gallery to speak to one of the lovely gallery team about artworks on sale, lay-by and payment options and shipping.

They're open 7 days a week from 10 am to 4 pm at 61 Musgrave Rd, Red Hill, Brisbane.

If you'd like to make an inquiry, please contact the gallery direct.

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To celebrate the start of the year, I've refreshed my online store!

Original size (A3) beautiful archival prints of my Explorer Series works on paper have just been listed, along with work that's available now, direct from me at the studio.

Free shipping/local delivery on all small and medium sized works and prints within Australia.

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So until next month, Happy New Year, hopefully your 2024 is off to a creative flying start and may the months ahead be filled with freedom to explore new ideas!