I have spent the past few weeks preparing for my Sydney exhibition with Robyn Jackson. My paintings are based on the Flinders Ranges. I have works measuring 152cmx122cm. I will take some smaller works down to Sydney and will put some in if they seem to go with the rest. A final decision is usually made at the time of hanging as the interaction of the works themselves and the interaction of the works with the space is hard to judge beforehand. It will be interesting to see how my own work and that of Robyn interact as they are so different. Difficulties in communications with galleries is one of the disadvantages of working in a regional area. In many ways, though, living outside of a city is an advantage, especially for a landscape painter. One is close to nature and to the subject matter and the artist is able to work unhindered and relatively uninfluenced by popular trends and the pressures of shifting tastes. When it comes to exhibitions though issues such as representation by the galleries concerned, distance and transporting works can be difficult. I am looking forward to the trip and the exhibition now that it is all arranged and underway.

Have been getting together an invitation and web page design for my upcoming exhibition in Sydney. Had the help of a friend with great graphic design skills to put it together so we are really happy with it. I'll be going down to Sydney in early July. The exhibition is at GIG Gallery in Glebe and runs from the 7th - 12th July. I am exhibiting with Robyn Jackson who is a very gifted figurative, expressive artist. It will be an interesting and I think complementary combination. The gallery is on Glebe Point Road and is in a great location amongst cafes, bookshops and just down the road from the Glebe Markets. We are hoping to get a big turnout to the opening on the 7th and have organised some music for the event. Family will use this as an opportunity to travel to meet up and stay together which will make it a special time.

For the past few weeks have been working on collages and rather more abstract acrylic paintings. I usually find that the colours in acrylic paints are a lot harsher and less subtle than those in oil paints. Layering, using washes and collage aids in bringing subtlety to the work. I am preparing to place a couple of images in a Sydney exhibition and am still getting a body of work together for a solo show in Armidale. The exhibition in Melbourne that I have a couple of works in will end soon so these works will come home then if not sold. One is promised to a friend so hopefully it will come home safe and sound. I had a problem with a large work that was damaged in transit recently. I will have to travel to repair it. It is difficult arranging for transport of artwork I find. A couple of my small paintings are shown here.

Edvard Munch
What is art?
Art grows from joy and sorrow - but mostly sorrow
It grows from man's life -
Is art a description of this life this movement?
Shall one depict the different pleasures - the different misfortunes -
or shall one only see the flower - whose nature, substance and vibration are determined by the joy and pain?

I do not believe in an art which has not forced its way out through man's need to open his heart -
All art, literature as well as music must be brought out with one's heart blood.

I've been working at an increased pace lately and trying to keep to schedule. Hopefully I will produce enough work for an active exhibiting year. The danger is always to produce works of quality and that don't begin to be work by formula.

The drawing trip to Mt Yarrowyck was interesting and inspiring. I saw the cave paintings and drew the landscape view across the valley. From the initial drawing and it's subsequent drawings will come hopefully a deeper more abstract interpretation of the rich cultural and visual nature of the place. I have sent my works down to the Melbourne gallery and have an exhibition lined up for July in Sydney. This exhibition I will be sharing with friend and fellow artist Robyn Jackson. The world situation speaks constantly of violence man against man and the slump in the market which has caused many people to come down from a very affluent position to a less affluent position. It's funny the priorities of the press. It is easy to mistake reports for information, viewpoints from facts. Painting landscapes can seem a little irrelevant at times and yet it is the land that holds true through all the vagaries of time.

The first week of January has finished and I start work again tomorrow. The long Christmas/New Year break has been revitalising. It has mainly been taken up with family gatherings, unpacking for the new house, reading and painting. I have gone out in the landscape to draw when I can.

Last week I drew at Dangar Lagoon which was formed glacially first then through sedimentation. It was a picnic area in the late 1800s and early 1900s for people from the Uralla area. Agricultural use of the land and draining for goldpanning has denuded the landscape. It is still a haven for birdlife however and the horizontals of grass, water, scrub are attractive to an artist. A few years ago my painting of the area showed no water at all whereas now it has plenty of water which is great to see.

At the weekend I will draw at Mt Yarrowyck outside of Armidale. Mount Yarrowyck Nature Reserve protects an Aboriginal cave painting site. The artwork is between 150 and 550 years old and the area is part of the traditional land of the Anaiwan people. The natural features of the land and the wildlife in it feature in the Aboriginal culture of the area. They are part of the dreaming stories.

In my days off I completed a few small works based on the Flinders area and the Tablelands area. I also have been preparing two larger canvases by layering textures and colours in preparation for works based on the outback landscape. I like to have a dense background to my painting with colours and textures of different kinds showing through the final work. I find it gives a richness and complexity to the work that I enjoy.

Art in the new year

Today is the second last day of 2008 - a day to reassess the previous year and look to the future years. It is so easy though to forget the day we are in and live for these two. It is a cliche but always worth a reminder that plans are just that - plans - they are not a reality that we live in. Today - here at the keyboard - is my reality. As I sit here the washing machine rumbles, the sun shines in a clear deep blue sky and the wind rattles the windows. Today is a painting day.

Despite the preceding I have plans for 2009. A new plan is for an exhibition at the end of the year in Brisbane and participation early in 2009 in a group show in Melbourne. It is the second time I have exhibited in Brisbane and the first time in Melbourne so I am looking forward to that very much. Images of the works I will send to Melbourne are here.

I have been thinking lately about Monet's art philosophy. For him his art governed his life. It became more than a "depiction" or a response to his landscape. He didn't demand of himself that he convey a message via his art. He didn't see it as his purpose to embody a concept in his line, colour and forms. These were things placed on his art from the outside by theorists who were placing him in the line of historic movements. The human need for order dictates that we place people, including artists, within an explanation.

Have been busy with preparations for Christmas. I have just returned recently from a family reunion and am feeling very thankful for the large and caring family I come from. A lot of the relies and friends I haven't seen for several years. We have all changed in many ways but are essentially the same as we always have been. I have so many ideas of directions my work could take. I am looking forward to spending a long stretch of time doing nothing but painting following Christmas. I will do some works based on my current landscape but will do some sketches from my recent European trip. I am preparing for my next trip by checking out accommodation, routes and air fares etc. I will go to London and New York. I am excited at the prospect of seeing the Turners in London and seeing the galleries in New York.

I have been moving house over the last few weeks. As a consequence I haven't gotten to do very much painting at all. This is a shame as a couple of people have been wanting to purchase my work. It is a nice predicament to be in but worrying as it is a lost opportunity. Two of my works are currently showing in the Summer Moments Exhibition at the Art Moment Gallery in Sydney. This exhibition continues until December 24th. One of the works is based the Northern Tablelands where I now live. It is of Wollomombi Gorge. The other is of the dry golden paddocks of the farmland around the area when there is very little rain. Since completing this work the landscape has changed as plentiful rain has turned the area to a range of rich greens.