I am a person who is inspired by standing at the lookout to “the three sisters” in Katoomba, soaking up the huge panorama of vast space, massive forms, light, and colour. I am a person who is inspired when standing under a huge Moreton Bay Fig tree, being surrounded by its large tube-like branches, its large buttress roots, its darkness, its smells, its sounds, its size, its movements, etc. I am a person who is inspired while standing in a vast flat quiet desert, with its clarity, its heat, its flatness, and vast space. I am inspired by many things, really. Over the years, I have wanted to express/record some of those amazing things that inspire me.

Remembered Night Sky. 29.5 cm x 21 cm, blue biro on white bond paper.
Main theme: The vastness and inspiration within the night sky.
Date produced: 1988 - 1992

When one takes some photographs at these types of places, one soon realises that photos certainly don’t feel the same as being there. Photos are flat, and usually small. They don’t really capture the feeling of space and form felt, and they rarely capture much of the true feeling of light and colour that were there. It isn’t easy to capture the space and forms from these places, and it’s the space and forms that give these types of places most of their inspirational qualities.

The expression of vast space and form has been one of the important themes in serious Australian art, as seen in works by Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Sidney Nolan (central Australian series), and W. C. Piguenit. This is probably because Australia offers most people the chance to experience vast vistas of space and form. The expression of vast space and form has been one of the important themes in many cultures. I think the experiences of being in vast spaces is also inspiring because as an animal species, we have excellent colour binocular vision, that covers a wide angle of view, and we have minds that can interpret and appreciate such things. I think we largely underestimate the amazing 3-dimensional impact we get from our binocular vision.

I have developed some unique visual means for expressing form and space on a 2-dimensional surface, including the use of contour lines, grids, meshes, and using an exaggerated form of aerial perspective in the colouring. These are things that I have developed and used over a long period of time. I know that I have been at least partly successful using these things because my eye, my intelligence and my heart tells me so.

Weeping Myrtle 7. 15 cm x 21 cm, black biro on cartridge paper.
Main theme: Interesting forms within trees.
Date produced: May 2000.

I largely work on-site, where I can directly compare my results with the real thing. If the result isn’t good, the real thing tells me quite quickly.

If nothing else comes of my work, I know that it has helped to give me a really highly developed appreciation of the greater world around me, an appreciation of so many beautiful and “simple” things. Spending time outside has been a big part of this appreciation. Striving to somehow capture something of what I really see and feel has been another – using my intellectual energy, my understanding, my manual skills, and my feelings (my emotions, my sense of what is being attempted, and my passion).

Quiet, Open Sky. 29.5 cm x 21 cm, blue biro on grey paper.
Main theme: Clouds, moving across the sky.
Produced at West Beach, after my exhibition (1984-1986).