Mar 83 min read

Studio News - March 2024

Abstract landscape design with leaves and stripes

Where do all the words go when I'm painting?

I think a lot.

And more often than not those thoughts wander around in my brain as words.

When I'm in the studio, thinking about what comes next in my process, or the merits of one colour over another, or my next texture for the gel plate, these ideas are always formulated in my mind with words.

But when I begin to paint I've realised that the words stop presenting themselves.

It's as if someone has turned off the tap and stemmed the flow of spoken language.

So what does happen when I pick up a brush or a pencil or my scissors and collage paper?

The cacophony of words goes quiet and my focus is solely on what I see and what I feel.

It's as if my world shrinks and my immediate and only priority becomes about taking instinctive physical action with a brush or a pencil; and this happens without the need of words to describe it.

I don't need to consciously think about, or talk myself through my actions in any way at all. I fell wholly present in the moment and utterly absorbed in my work; concentration is effortless; my field of vision is narrowed to colours and shapes.

I feel a sense of complete fulfillment in working within my process.

This is what active creative practice looks and feels like for me, and it exists in a space without words and where time seems to stand still.

And for me, therein lies the 'art'.

The art of giving oneself to a creative process with the ability to let go of time, to forget oneself and feel part of something bigger and somehow universal;

joining all the artists who have gone before on this continuum of creative endeavour.

And the paintings?

They're simply the markers that I've engaged with, committed to and devoted myself to the creative act for a time.

When I'm done for the day, and I close the studio door, that's when the words come back. Only then is it time to reflect, critique, compare and discuss progress with myself.

And this 'out of action' thinking is undoubtedly an essential part of the creative process.

But if I'm honest, the thing I love most about painting is the way it silences my mind when I'm actively absorbed in the process of creating.

'The Boardwalk'

Original abstract mixed media landscape painting framed on a wall

110 cm (W) x 80 cm (H)

Mixed Media on Board

Custom framed in Natural Oak

$2900

I'm excited to share my most recent painting to come off the easel. If you visited me during Noosa Open Studios you would have seen this as a work in progress.

My thoughts had turned back to ideas from my Portal Series, about walking the footpath through the swale to the beach and the sense of transition I always feel in these spaces.

The inspiration for this painting came from Beach Entry 68 in the Peregian section of the Noosa National Park which has a weathered timber boardwalk across a section of the swale, with seasonal ponds below, filled with beautiful reeds.

'The Boardwalk' is available now for viewing in person at the studio, drop me a DM or email if you'd like to call in.

The latest addition to my Explorer Series of paintings on paper, began with blue and yellow and then went off on a pink and tangerine tangent towards the end!

This Vlog takes you though my process of building up layers of gel prints on larger sheets of paper. For this exercise I like to use my 'dump sheets' where I roll off excess paint from my roller between prints. These sheets of paper have, by default, an underlying structure which is interesting to print over the top of, and it means nothing is wasted!

It's up on the wall!

If you've been following my journey for a while, you'll know I've been immersed in, what was for me, a large commission for three paintings for a beautiful riverside home in old Tewantin, Qld.

With the pieces ready and framed, installation was a team effort!

You can read more about this journey here:

River House Commission

three abstract landscape paintings haning side by side

With the originals now in their forever home, I'm making original size custom prints of these pieces available (on canvas or paper - framed), please get in touch if you'd like to know more.

So until next month, enjoy your studio time, whether that's with words or without!