Cape to Cape

A red dirt track gently curves to the left through sand dunes and into the horizon line. Small group of trees lean toward the track and bushes in gold tones in the foreground. Artist Statement " This Watercolour was done some years ago and is done from a sketch on the track going down to the beach from the main car park widing down through the trees behind the restaurant area. However this was before there was much development there. I appreciate the simplicity of water colour and try in my art works to keep the subject matter as uncomplicated as possible. Water colour is a wonderfully unpredictable medium which lends itself to surprising effects. In order to accentuate this, I allow spontaneous mixing of my pigments on the paper picking up pure fresh pigment with each brush stroke and do not blend paint on a palette. This preserves the crisp clean luminous hues of the watercolour medium. I have transferred these techniques to oil painting and have resisted the temptation to use tried and trusted methods to apply pigment. Pigments are again mixed not on the palette, with paint applied directly to the canvas and a variety of techniques used to move it around. The results are, at times disappointing and need to be discarded. However at other times the results can be unique. Since moving to the East Kimberly based in Kununurra, I have spent time with some of the aboriginal artists in the area and am experimenting with different natural mediums including ochres and natural tree saps My paintings provide a glimpse of the impressions of the Kimberley from 2 different perspectives I feel that the Kimberley has a male and female aspect to it Close up it is hard, overbearing and unforgiving with extremes of temperature and rain which can be fatal However from a distance the colours are more muted with a feminine softness and roundness with very female shapes. I also have a special interest in life drawing and have spent years drawing on a regular basis. Good drawing skills are fundamental to good art works. It is often the simplicity of the drawings, subject matter and paucity of line that is so appealing. If you can capture the essence of a mood or emotion with some simple lines, often no more is required. I have recently returned to life drawing and painting after returning to art school in London. It was invigorating working around other artists who gave me new ideas and techniques in rendering the human form. I feel that if you can draw people well you can draw anything Adding an abstract approach to figurative painting allows the imagination of the onlooker to take over and visualise whatever they feel is appropriate Whislt on London I spent time studying the English impressionist ,JMW Turners' work. After spending time in the print room at the Tate gallery and working with artists having a special interest in his approach to rendering light especially with his watercolours, my approach to water colour is evolving with more generous pigment application allowing a painting to evolve and in some ways create itself."

Frame size: 78.5 cm x 96.0 cm x depth including