My story so far
I am fortunate to live on the Surfcoast of Victoria and I’ve been painting since the late 1990's, finally taking the plunge into full time in 2016. I began my journey experimenting in oil and tried various mediums and genres until finally returning to oil and finding my niche as an impressionist landscape and marine painter.
I try and do something art related every day, whether it be painting or sketching, practicing brush strokes or colour mixing or any combination of these activities. I am an avid collector and reader of art books, both historical and technical and I’m constantly engaged in self-education via the internet. My studio is full of art books, videos and other art related material. In 2019 I completed a Certificate IV in Visual Arts.
My works have been exhibited at various Victorian and interstate art shows and I have been the recipient of several awards including winner of the National Contemporary Art Award 2019.
Although I enjoy working in my studio, my real passion is painting outdoors en plein air. I travel quite extensively throughout Victoria and New South Wales in pursuit of this passion. I draw much inspiration for seascapes from my doorstep with the Great Ocean Road a short drive away. I also like to paint landscapes in the rural areas of Victoria, particularly the Grampians and Alpine regions and along the Murray, King and Campaspe rivers.
I consider myself to be an impressionist painter and enjoy painting landscapes, marine subjects and urban street scenes. I enjoy the challenge of creating a believable impression of a scene and I am inspired by renowned past and present Australian landscape impressionists, several of whom I've had the pleasure of being tutored by over the years at various advanced workshops. I believe the key to my progression has been lots of practice (brush miles) and a disciplined and quite intensive self-education regime.
I paint mostly in oil and indeed all of my commissioned work has been oil based. However, I have taken a real liking to watercolour which I find quite challenging. I now work and study both mediums in studio and en plein air.
In addition to my roles with the Victorian Artist’s Society and Australian Society of Marine Artists, I am an exhibiting member of various other groups and societies including the Watercolour Society of Victoria, the Australian Guild of Realist Artists and the Contemporary Art Society. I am also a member of the American Society of Marine Artists.