'Woods and Water' Art Studio Exhibition

This exhibition of paintings in oils, acrylics and works on paper, focuses upon local woodlands and waterways. It is important to me to acknowledge, connect with and observe the particular charcater of the natural environments around me, before interpreting them into art.  It can be rewarding to stop and look about us, to pay close attention to wherever we are, wherever we live, however familiar or ordinary it may seem, there is always beauty to be found.

I also think that anything we take time to properly observe is something we are likely to care about. Some awareness is inescapable now, of the fragility and vulnerability of our natural environment. Australia is enduring increasingly extreme weather patterns, drought, flood and bushfires, recovery from which is highly uncertain. With that in mind, my work is slightly elegiac, thinking about the ways in which ecosystems struggle to work; wanting enough water (but not too much), enough summer (but without relentless drought or too much fire), enough shelter and replenishment for our parched and burdened earth. I draw, and paint, what I love.