Journal

SOLO EXHIBITION: Encounters with Nature in Victoria. 13 April – 5 May 2022

This public and free exhibition at Melbourne’s City Library will feature detailed oil paintings inspired by nature in Victoria. Each work will be accompanied by a passage detailing where the subject was encountered, what the artist was feeling at the time and why it caught his attention. The exhibition will be a positive, colourful and

Energetic gum tree

Inspiration was encountered at Dog Rocks near Castlemaine/ Djadjawurrung and Taungurung land. I encountered this tree while hiking on a trail with great views of farmland near Castlemaine. This gum tree was alone on a bare patch of ground between stones and boulders. The flows and patterns of its trunk made it look like it

Banksia Clump

The banksia doesn’t make any sense. There is no top or bottom, no front or back. The seed pods are fused together in no style or pattern, as if they exploded from a central kernel like a popcorn. It’s a solid clump of mouths. It’s given some sense of order by the fact it’s hanging

Banksia core

While travelling through Kurnai Country (Gippsland) in December 2021, it’s impossible not to think of big bushfires. Everywhere is still blackened by fire even though the flames were extinguished almost two years ago. There is plenty of green to give encouragement that renewal will be possible but it’s all young, new growth. I’m on a

Next solo exhibition to be supported by City of Melbourne Arts Grant Program

It was very exciting to learn the City of Melbourne had chosen my next solo exhibition to receive funding as part of their quick response arts grants program. It means a lot to know the Council can see how my exhibition will be beneficial to the public and will assist me in presenting the free

Tawny Frog Mouths are not owls

I’m not likely to encounter a tawny frog mouth by chance. They aren’t very common, they move around at night and even if I happen to walk past one, they’re very hard to see. During the day they like to perch silently like stone gargoyles in trees that closely match their plumage. They really don’t

State of Disaster – Roadmap. Open-air exhibition in postcode 3031

For the second year the suburbs of Flemington and Kensington, situated in postcode 3031, are in strict lockdown. Once again I am participating in the State of Disaster group exhibition co-curated by Tameka Carter and Rute Chaves. This year the theme is Roadmap. Fourteen artists and collectives have come together as best as we can

earrings now for sale in the online store

For a while I had been following Melbourne jeweller Erin K on instagram. I guess at some point I had found her account, been impressed by her designs that are inspired by nature, and thought I should follow her. Recently I saw she had worked with an artist to design some jewellery and I thought

FIVE reasons why I don’t touch the subjects of my paintings

I was taught to leave nature the way I found it, but there was a time when artists wouldn’t hesitate to pick, cut down, trap or kill subjects so they could take them to their studios to study while painting. In 2021 I don’t need to do that because I can document what I see

Inspired by nature in Australia.

Journal