On a train journey from Sydney to Canberra I was struck by the landscape rolling by. Once past Campbeltown, bucolic green fields unfold, hedged by pine trees. There were lots of lorikeets and rosellas and once I spotted a wallaby leaping past in a gum jungle. And past Goulburn the rolling open pastures makes the sky seem so vast and blue. I itched to paint it all.
I realized how much I loved the Australian landscape when I went to NZ 2 years ago and didn't feel at all inclined to paint. Perhaps it was the newness of it all and the strangeness of the flora.
I also felt overwhelmed on a recent visit to Uluru. It was so red and so different from coastal Australia. At least there are gumtrees at Uluru. I remember thinking how wonderful it was to encounter a gumtree at the Italian Lakes and how homesick I felt.
