Since finishing a Fine Art Degree at R.M.I.T. (in Melbourne) in painting, drawing and print making in 1986 and starting on this artistic journey, I have focused on using painting and drawing media and in particular on works on paper since 2005. Nature has been the major inspiration for these artworks along with a range of artistic and personal influences and experiences through travels here and abroad.
These Artworks are created from observation of the subject and through intuitive, emotional responses as the compositions progress, evoking a sense of discovery and renewed visual understanding of the subject described. The variations of surface layers, textures and transparencies, although abstract pieces of mark making, come together to form and describe the subject. Whether it be a landscape, still-life, or figure, each subject is a vehicle for looking into the processes of formation, evolution and dissipation. There-by, describing a state beyond a fixed, or solid expression of nature. The still-life objects are also chosen for their timeless shapes and universal recognition.
Tasmania’s coastline and mountain landscapes have been a continuing source of visual inspiration for describing form and space, along with desert, mountain, and coastal landscapes in other parts of Australia and overseas.
Since 1989, important personal and Artistic inspiration has come from a wide range of cultural experiences gained during extensive travels in Asia, Europe, North Africa and Latin America, through their cultural and religious practices, art and architecture. These include the designs and structures influenced by Mystic Islam which conveys a sense of the infinite immensity of the universe, with a sublime cosmology in its’ complete form and intricate, detailed, atomic-like parts. Also, the philosophical views on impermanence held by Hindu and Buddhist cultures, including nature’s cycle of order and entropy, forming or coming into being and dissolving, or dissipating into chaos.
The work of several Artists has contributed to the development of my visual language, especially that of William Turner, Paul Cezanne and Pierre Bonnard which have influenced the building of volumes, spaces and the use of colour temperature and tone to suggest the presence of the subject. The meditative stillness and metaphysical qualities I find in the work of Alberto Giacometti, Giorgio Morandi, and Mark Rothko have been key influences as have various aspects in the work of fellow Australian Artists such as Ian Fairweather, Godfrey Miller, Roger Kemp and Fred Williams.
Ultimately, these artworks are a process and expression of visual poetry and are an endeavour to express and to connect with the world around us. As with other forms of artistic expression (music, poetry, or dance) visual art is an ancient form of language which humans have used to express the world around us for thousands of years. There-fore, nothing is original in thought or act. We can only have a unique perspective and personal artistic journey based on our heritage, accumulated life experiences and world view.
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