When a new year begins, I like to review the one just passed and think about how I want to show up in the 12 months ahead.
Looking back on 2023, I notice a deepening of my sense of belonging to this land and in particular the bushland near my home in the Blue Mountains. What I experience in the bush each day as I pay attention to the changing seasons, light, colours and sounds is immersion in connection. Connection with the earth, the trees and birds, the movement of the air, the creatures I encounter, myself and the spirit or life force that animates it all.
Thinking about the year ahead my trip to Central Australia in April looms large. It will mean travelling away from my familiar, into an unknown place, the desert, a landscape alien to me.
While preparing to go, I have sought the support of you and others in various ways. I have, reasonably, felt the need to justify or explain myself… to expound the merits of my venture, its broader value and context. As I did I began to notice a persistent disquiet in my spirit. Yesterday it dawned on me what this is about and I want to share it with you.
My original impulse to travel to the desert came from a time in my life when I stood at the edge of desolation. The story starts in 2020, when I experienced a devastating personal crisis that left me unable to paint, unable to teach and in a state of constant anxiety and grief. I was stumbling. My whole world, which till then had felt secure and predictable, seemed to have been turned upside down - I was adrift in uncertainty and distress. For many months I tramped the bush below my home in the Blue Mountains, trying to find solace and comfort, with despair on my heels. I could not sleep, my face became strained and drawn and my body was racked with fear. In the midst of this dark night of the soul, I experienced great consolation from stories and wisdom texts from the desert. Somehow the barren, vast and harsh landscape of the desert had acted as both a haven and a catalyst for personal recovery and renewal in others. And thus I wanted to go there, to experience first-hand its transformational power.
Fortunately, I am no longer in such dire circumstances. Hope and joy have returned to my life and as you will have witnessed I am painting with vigour and enthusiasm once more. Yet, the desire to live in and paint the desert persists.
As for providing a neat explanation or justification for going, I cannot in good conscience do this. It remains a deeply personal journey, a form of pilgrimage of the soul. Yet I know that as an artist, what I can and will do is make paintings in response to what I sense there. These paintings, as if by some mysterious alchemy, will carry within their brushmarks, colours and forms, a story of the spirit and power of the desert for you and others also to experience. I look forward to sharing them with you later in the year.
Fine Art Print of Evensong XIV, oil on board, 2023. Print measures 50 x 50 cm. On sale, unframed for $170
To help fund this desert painting trip I am offering several special events and opportunities, including for a short time, a 35% off sale on a select number of significant paintings in my collection. If you have been wanting to buy an original or a large centrepiece, this may be just the time.
Also, I am happy to announce the limited release of two editions of fine art giclee prints of my paintings. These beautiful prints capture every brushmark and gesture in the paint. Printed using the finest quality archival pigments, on Ilford Galerie Textured Cotton Rag 310gsm, each print is a collector's piece and a more affordable option than an original oil painting.
Perhaps you’d like to come along to a Nature and Creativity Reboot in Sun Valley in the Lower Blue Mountains on Saturday 2nd March from 9 to 11.30 am. This will be an opportunity to walk with me and learn about how I contemplate and embrace nature, allowing this process to lead to creative expression. I will guide you in exploring your connection to yourself and your surroundings and responding with writing and/or art-making. If this sounds like your cup of tea, then please book now so I can start planning!
Or you may want to take your creativity to the next stage in one of these forthcoming workshops, The Essentials of Painting Technique for Beginners to Intermediates, Part 1 and Part 2 on Sunday 25 February. Bookings close on Feb 15.
And it’s not too early to book for the Capertee Painting Retreat in October.
Finally, if you are keen to support me paint in the desert and share my process with you, please consider making a financial contribution by becoming my patron and donating here. Your generosity and kindness are gratefully received!
Wishing you all the best as we fully kick off 2024, and I look forward to seeing you or hearing from you soon.
As autumn arrives I consider what I may experience as I paint in the vast, dry landscape of the desert.