The theme of my current body of work is By the Sea. I have been working on this theme since 2019. There was supposed to be an exhibition of the work in 2021, but that did not happen due to Covid.

Now, mid-way through 2022, everything is finally complete and ready for an exhibition at the Firestation Print Studio from August 10 – 27th.

(Above - Paintings)

The work is a mixture of prints, drawings and paintings as always. The paintings are in oils and incorporate string. The drawings are simple HB pencil, worked up and back in layers, and with the aid of a pencil eraser. I did a series of small monoprints during our various Lockdowns and the other prints are collagraphs or linocuts incorporating watercolour or coloured pencil.

(Above - Collagraphs + linocuts)

Once again, the works are referenced from photos I take when out walking. Many of the references this time were from photos around Inverloch and Lorne.

(Below - monotype)

(Below - Drawings)

A new theme

Life has been very busy and time for creativity severely curtailed. Some progress does continue to be made each week, but nothing especially worthy of comment and things have been rather silent.

After my exhibition late last year, exploring detail in Australia's High Country, it was time to re-start, with a new theme. Although I have touched on aspects of our coastline before, I wanted to examine the intricacies of "By the Sea" in more detail, so the new theme was born.

Everyone approaches creativity differently. Some explore through interrelated works and others have one off, bright ideas. Probably because of my Strategic Planning background and my very nature, I have a very organised approach, which seems to have become even more organised as time passes. It involves choosing a theme or topic and then creating a body of work based on that theme over a period of two years and culminating in a solo exhibition.

After two years of absorption and exploration of the detail of one aspect of nature, I always find it hard to get started on the new theme. For me, it involves firstly a lot of research and photograph taking, followed by a flurry of sketching in my visual diary. Once this is done I can get a good idea of particular things in my theme that appeal to me and which I want to pursue further in art works as well as the medium I would choose for each. I can’t say that I decide on every single painting, print and drawing at this stage, but it motivates me to begin and things evolve along the way.

I’m at that stage now. I took many photos during solitary early morning walks while on a week’s beach holiday in January and added those to my folder of existing “beach photo” references. There is seaweed, sand patterns, driftwood, shells and all sorts of grasses and greenery. I have drawn and drawn in my visual diary and now I have begun on a series of collagraph plates and made rough drafts for a series of HB pencil drawings, which I am slowly developing up. 

So “art time” is slowly returning to normal.

Exhibition time

My constant fascination, and the subject of my work, has been intricate detail in nature. The works, are mostly inspired by photos that I take while out walking in the Australian landscape. The photos range from very close up views, using a macro lens, photos for example of the structure of a leaf, a seed head or a fungus, to views of groups of objects, taken from a few metres away. Because of the view, the work can appear either seemingly abstract, or reasonably recognisable.

Over the past few years I have chosen a particular facet of nature and then created a body of work which explores that facet, every 2 years, exhibiting the results in a solo exhibition. Four years ago, the work was all about patterns in shore platforms while two years ago, I explored the intricacies of the leaf. Now, having been working away since that time, my latest pieces, on the theme of Australia’s High Country are ready for exhibition (see invitation below).

Whilst the majority of the photos I have used for reference were taken in Victoria and around Mt Erica, north of Moe, some are from NSW and others from Tasmania. Working on this exhibition has been an opportunity to revel in exploring and then sharing my delight in the enormous diversity and beauty of the surface textures, summer flowers, fruit and foliage and above all the stunning bark of the Snow Gums that the High Country has to offer.

I have never wanted to work in only 1 medium and so have always chosen to create a variety of different types of works, within my chosen theme, including prints (lino cuts and collagraphs), drawings, paintings and mixed media works, as the photos illustrate.

Snow Gums

The four oil paint and string pieces for the alpine theme of my current body of work, came together quite easily but the last two, which were just oil paint have been an epic struggle. All six paintings were inspired by the amazing, colourful bark of Snow Gums and referenced from photos I took while walking at Mt Erica, about 2 hours drive east of Melbourne. Some of the photos were taken only centimetres from the bark, some at about 1 metre away and others from 3 or 4 metres. The paintings too reflect this macro, intermediate and broader view.

It was the intermediate view that I struggled with the most. I wanted to give an impression of the typical colours and mottled nature of different coloured strips of bark. But I also wanted to emphasise the beautiful and distinctive folding that occurs on the trunks of some of the more mature trees.

Achieving my goals, were quiet another matter and weeks were spent messing about in a haze of dissatisfaction, not helped by a lack of art time and ready mixed containers of paint going tacky.  The colours weren’t subtle enough. The folds didn’t jump out enough. I kept on looking at the canvases and shaking my head.

Finally, I had a clear space with no family commitments and no dramas so I painted for six days straight, and at last the job was done.

String and lino

Two of the string paintings are done and others are still on the way. It has been a very Stop –Start business as art time has been constrained by a myriad of other duties imposing themselves on my life. I use quite thin oil paint and like to mix up small tubs, which will last up to two weeks if sealed when not in use, of the colours I will need. The paint does eventually go thick and sticky and I have to start the process again. When there are too few art days in the week to warrant paint mixing for the canvases, I work on other things.

The latest task has been to finish cutting a lino plate, which is very fiddly and painful and has been on the go for several months. Out came the trusty, rather grubby and slightly leaky hot water bottle again. I have tried putting the plates out in the sun on hot days but they just don’t stay hot for long enough for me, so the hot water bottle it is. I can get almost an hour out of that.