South coast

Summer is here although it alternately gets wet and chilly. I'm trying to get as much ocean swimming in as possible - between the rain and resulting pollution I'm not having much luck!


If I can't swim I can paint the beach. This one is in the south coast - where the beaches are both rocky and sandy. It's a magical part of the world.

Gordon's bay

Our Sydney coast is really very special with the sandstone cliffs awashed by the sea. Gordon's Bay is between Coogee and Clovelly - part of the great Bondi walk.


Here I have used palette knife techniques to render the cliff and waves. There's something exhilarating about standing on the edge looking at the pounding surf.

Summer hydrangeas

It's summer and the hydrangeas are lovely.


These ones came from my mother in law's garden which had to be reached through a very well locked door from her cellar. I know I will never get more than an impression of their beauty - so here it is.
On Christmas Day, mum in law came for lunch, saw this painting and loved it.  So she took it home for a Christmas present.  I seem to give away more paintings over time, it saves me the trouble of exhibiting and selling...

Excursion to Jervis Bay

After a longish hiatus I enrolled myself in a plein air workshop last weekend. It was run by the charming Alison Chiam, of Malaysian Chinese/ Scottish heritage. The workshop was held at Jervis Bay, about 2.5 hours away from Sydney.

The afternoon we left a thunderstorm with hail came down with great effect. The trip took us nearly 4 hours! The next day the weather was dismal - showers and a brisk wind made it rather wintry. Being a wuss I assumed that the workshop would be relocated to an indoor venue. Well, it wasn't and we ended up stuck mostly in a shelter at Picnic Point.




Rowen Matthews the art tutor is an academic and practising painter. His message is to paint expressively - in other words convey the feeling of the place. I'm sure he is right, at some level I know that paintings of places that I've loved always sold first. Being outside, despite the elements really helps. If only plein air weren't so uncomfortable. One is either too hot or too cold. The less equipment you bring the less you can achieve. The balance is a challenge. Despite the conditions I was happy with my first painting - it's a sandbank across the creek. I had to paint peeking out from the cracks of the shelter....



The next day the weather cleared. Hurray! The time we went to Greenfields Beach. I was encouraged to try palette knife painting as a quick way to get an impression down. These are small boards but perfect for field work.


This last one was of another creek. I was struck by the tea stained rocks in the creek. One can only see this in the shadows - the water reflected the sky perfectly in other places. I'm glad to have attended this workshop as it has now inspired me to get out and paint. I've finally bought a tube of retardant which I will be thankful for outside of rainy days.

St Mark's

Everyone who visits Venice would have been to St Mark's - the Byzantine cathedral decorated with the booty from the East. It's certainly the most fantastic building I've seen.


This painting was inspired by St Marks but it's not the colours of the real building which was too subdued to depict its richness and grandeur.

Venetian roofscape

Last year we were in Europe on vacation. And Italy being my favourite place, we were in Venice.


Our hotel was very close to San Marco but in a quieter part of the sestieri. Our rooms had this gorgeous view of rooftops. But my favourite time to admire this was at dusk when the whole place glowed with a soft golden light. Even now when I think of this view I get a warm feeling - how lucky for those who can feast their eyes everyday.

Life drawing in colour

This term I have not enrolled in an art class as the swim season looms and I'm race secretary. I know I'm going to be very busy. But when my friend Fiona asked if I'd go for a casual class, I was quite excited. Firstly because I do like figure drawing and secondly because Fi, who badly needs me-time, is able to go.



We did the usual warm up exercises and then we had an hour long pose. This is really unusual because models usually can't stay still that long. I took the opportunity to do an ink drawing.


We had more time - I then got ambitious and started an acrylic and ink combination- nearly didn't finish it. The pose from this angle was severely fore shortened which made composition difficult. But I'm pleased with the results. Best of all, Fi had a good day and plans to return next week.