Dear Reader,
I think flowers are natures way to show off colour. Flowers are like jewels in a field. When I collect and arrange nature’s jewels, I always consider the setting, much like an earring or a necklace. I ask myself, ‘what colour is really special in this arrangement and how do the colours around it support it to make it sing? Where on the picture plane do I want that exciting colour to be?’ I try to build my compositions around these jewels.
Dear Reader,
While getting my car serviced I decided to paint. I took a walk in the light drizzle, past sheep hiding under bushes. Eventually I came to a small creek that runs behind the visitors centre in McLaren Vale. I set myself up opposite a large tree on the creek bank. Pedler creek runs mostly in the the winter months. As I sat there watching this little creek meander and gurgle, I noticed that there were no straight lines before me. Everything was meandering and finding ways to get on with each other. It reminded me of the traffic in Nepal, where there are no road rules. In the apparent chaos there is consideration for another being, be they human, cow or chicken.
Dear Reader,
I’ve been thinking about how completely alchemical the act of painting is. Pigments are basically dirt, bones, heavy metals, dyes and crushed rocks with perhaps the odd insects blood in there. Victoria Finlay wrote that fascinating book on the history of colour titled Colour: a Natural History of the Pallet. Although I’m captivated by mixing colours together to create subtle shifts, what really blows me away is that it doesn’t always turn to mud! I think that the really alchemy lies in how our perception organises colour on a two dimensional surface so that it represents something, whether it’s perceived in our inner world or in our environment.
