Sister's creek completed

After much messing around I completed (for now at any rate) this painting. The actual creek is a tannin colour and if you are submerged in it you couldn't see past your waist. But it does a great job in reflecting.

Bold impressions

In a bid to get my painting mojo back I decided to cash in my voucher and enrol in a one day workshop at ArtEst. Having had a rollicking good time with Paul McCarthy previously I decided to go for the 'Bold Impression' workshop once more.


Paul is a master in the application of colour theory. He paints with one brush and mixes his colours on the canvas and never puts a ground on his surface. Yet the results are eye catching and harmonious. His trees are pink, his sky hardly ever blue but they are far from discordant.

This painting is of an urban landscape - the rooftops of Balmain, near the Dawn Fraser pool. There is something harmonious about a row of terraces. The shapes are like frozen music.

Back in the saddle

The lateness of my posts probably has not gone unnoticed. Apologies all round and rest assured I'm back in the saddle now. I started on this painting of a creek in Sister's Beach, far north west Tasmania a few weeks ago. Sisters beach is a lovely spot, surrounded by bush and rather prone to bush fires. Ocean swimming in the height of summer is still a cold affair. Indeed I thought I'd lost all circulation on my feet after 5 mins paddling!


The solution is to swim in the creek. The creek flows out to the beach and at low tide, the water is warm although tannin tinged so that one can't see the bottom. At high tide, all the cold cold sea water comes in and the water is clear but cold!

This painting was inspired by the creek and please note that it is a work in progress. I decided that the sky be pink which meant a rework of the entire colour scheme. It's a Paul McCarthy (ArtEst tutor) touch which I hope will succeed.