Passages - Paintings from Warrumbungles and Closer to Home

Travelling to Warrumbungle and Wollemi National Parks to paint was a journey both into and beyond my comfort zone. The natural beauty and majesty of the place was enthralling. I felt joy and contentment on my hikes, watching birds flit and call, noticing the texture of bark, and the colour of rock and lichen. I felt compelled to create, but surprisingly, after initially painting the astounding rock formations and the views, my attention was drawn elsewhere. I began instead, to paint the less distinctive, yet still remarkable - the cloud cascades in the evening sky, the still stands of trees that seemed to beckon me like sentinels. The tiny all-prima sky paintings, painted swiftly to enhance the gestural spontaneity of the mark making contrast with images depicting dense bushlands, painstakingly developed over weeks. They act as portals to expansive space, carrying you, the viewer, towards otherworldliness while the bush landscapes invite you to cross a threshold, to travel deep within a particular place. They metaphorically enfold or entice you in a grounded, intimate and mystical experience.