King's Canyon paintings

When we were at King's Canyon, the walking choices were either a 6km difficult walk around the canyon rim, or an easy walk on the canyon floor about 2 km and taking an hour. My husband did the hard one and for his efforts was rewarded by aerial views and my 7 year old daughter and I did the easy route. Truth be told, I preferred this walk not only for it's ease but the opportunity to see the stunning contrast between the river white gums on the dry creek bed and the red cliffs overhead.

Finally months after our trip I got going with this painting.

I am not sure it is finished but it is a base for further experimentation.

Location:Yulara Dr,Yulara,Australia

Desertscapes again

My artist friend Catherine generously gave me a few tips on painting deserts. This is what she said "...it is the density of the dark shadows that define the reds - think abstract shapes for the shadows. I think you've got alizarin crimson and pthalo blue in the shadows - more intensity." With her advice in mind, I decided to have another go at the King's Canyon painting. Here is what it looked like before I started experimenting.


It was fine but lacking in impact. Not memorable as the desert is in reality. I re-coloured the rocks to pure pigment and resisted adding white. That was quite a discipline for me! I added pthalo blue to the shadows which immediately darkened them.


And here is the result after. As Catherine said, it packs more of a punch. It captures more of the harshness and vitality of the desert.

Mother's group revisited

As my friends will attest I'm a prolific painter with a huge output. When I reach a quota of paintings that can fit on my walls I look at the ones that can be improved. Sometimes they can't be made better and I gesso it and paint over.

One that caught my eye was the one of the mother's group at Wylie's. This is what it looked like:

I thought the colours were a bit off and I decided to introduce violet, yellow and blue to the orange green scheme. The result is less abstract and I think the effect of shadows from the stairs is better rendered.

Life drawing w Elly

The weather on Sunday was strange; just as we got ready to go to the beach the sun went behind a cloud and it got cold. So instead we went for pho and I went life drawing.



Elly our ex dancer is very graceful. I like drawing her as she looks good despite the fact that she is middle aged. The muscle tone still going strong - quite an inspiration.



I tried to use pastels in a painterly fashion for this pose. I like the way the colours are muted.


Life drawing is quite refreshing- especially when done occasionally. I left feeling like I'd exercised my artistic 'muscles' - a bit like the high one gets after exercise.

Swimmer emerging from water

After the last painting I rediscovered my painting mojo and enjoyed painting this one of a swimmer climbing out of Wylie's. It was very high tide which made Wylie like a washing machine. The few brave souls like this lady who attempted a swim, quickly gave up and climbed up the ladder back to dry land. The water was swirling everywhere and sparkling in the sun. Alas no swimming could be done!

Rocks at Coogee

Apologies for the long absence but I've been distracted due to child swimming prowess requiring presence at various carnivals. This has taken chunks of time away from painting.


I finally completed this painting of waves crashing on rocks at Coogee. I've always loved the beauty of Wylie's and this is a picture of the north side of the rockpool. Sometimes there are explorers on these rocks but not at high tide when there is a risk of being washed away. Moss grows alongside oysters making it even more dangerous.

Kings canyon

For weeks now I've been struggling with desertscapes... The colours in the desert are brilliant and most cameras cannot convey the shades of orange, ochre and yellow. But I wanted to put on paper what I saw, not what my camera captured.


Acrylic paints also have their limitations- the bright colours are usually transparent and opacity is obtained with the addition of white. However white dulls the colour and hence back to square one. In this desertscape of King's Canyon, I decided to work on paper so that I can put pastels and pure pigment on top. It's done with two pieces of paper so that it illustrates the vastness of this ancient land.