Sunset on the Bay Drawing

My work is inspired by the natural world. Its beauty, its paradoxes and its contrasts. Painting is my way of connecting with and honouring the land. There is a spiritual significance in nature’s forms, a spiritual landscape within a physical one. A scene might look rather ordinary to someone else but, to me, there could be some aspect about it that strikes a chord, something of significance. I work mostly in my studio, using field studies and photo references in combination. I analyse, plan and imagine what I want to do in a painting or drawing. Some subjects work best as small paintings, some want to be large paintings while other subjects work best as long, horizontal paintings. Often I will add a different sky that better compliments the colours, values and shapes of the land. My starting point is always the actual scene at a specific time, and I tend to focus on the aspects of a landscape that are constantly changing like the sky and light, or movement in water to make a statement about this one moment. All my current paintings take the sky or clouds as their main subject. They are expressions of the natural landscape that surrounds my home and studio. My works slowly evolve onto the surface of the canvas, often over layers of paint that is scraped and rubbed, revealing the colours beneath. Rather than copying details, I am more interested in portraying the landscape in a personal way revealing the communication I find in nature.