Studio Journal
Essays, field notes and reflections from the Tracing Australia project
Through essays, field notes and reflections, the Studio Journal is a place where I delve into Australia's landscapes, significant trees, histories and places. These writings accompany my artwork and the evolving Tracing Australia project, a long-term project looking at the stories that shape our relationship with Country and what Australia or being Australian really means.
The Question of Enough
When is enough, enough? A question that has followed me through grief, community work and the studio. On finding things to embrace, others to resist, and making a song for the trees.
the studio in waiting
A month of judging, exhibitions, funding applications and art-world scrutiny leads to a more personal question: where does an artist fit, and does the work need to resolve anything at all?
while I was looking for purple….
A walk through the rainforest in search of purple becomes a reflection on ageing, anxiety, creativity and the lifelong urge to keep moving forward.
There's Something About Tamborine Mountain…
What does it mean to belong? Beginning on Tamborine Mountain and following the remarkable migration of the Eastern Curlew, this month's Studio Journal reflects on community, stewardship and the reciprocal relationship between people and the places that shape them.
Painting Lake Argyle: Reflections on Water, Memory and Place
While painting a panorama of Lake Argyle, I found myself thinking about rivers, memory and the stories that lie beneath the visible surface. This reflection explores landscape, engineering, history and the challenge of holding complexity within a single work.
Vale David Forbes
Post Script to interview ‘Taking Steps, an artists journey with Parkinsons.
Studio Rituals
I have been in many artists studios across Australia and around the world. Some are grand and some are modest. I have come to realise that space dictates a lot of how the work comes out.
comfort zones
This art life on the road- Musings on overcoming comfort zones, climbing mountains, grief trauma and healing.
turning the corner-
19 weeks in on a 6 month road trip tracing Australia, we turn the corner of the Western Australia coast and begin to head east.
more than a pile of rocks- Burrup Peninsula
This month we travelled from the Kimberly to the Pilbara. Spinifex, red dirt, deep gorges- a land of great beauty as well as iron ore trains, massive ships coming in and out of ports, towns dependant and built on mining $, and complex infrastructure. This is extractive Australia.
Boab country
Boab trees of the Kimberley Western Australia….gentle giants observing the tides of change
Meliorist on the Move- Darwin
Meliorist on the move- 6 months on the road tracing Australia.
Artist in Residence Ahimsa
Musings during a 15 day stay at the property Ahimsa once home to environmentalist, lawyer, feminist and Buddhist Marie Byles. Researching Marie’s life, walking where she walked and following connections with author Gillian Mears who was also inspired by this woman. 31 Jan- 14th Feb 2024
January 26
a conversation we need to have
January 26 sits uncomfortably with me as a celebration of what Australia is today. I cannot partition it from its roots-(and those are also my roots) the advantages I have from the displacement of others. I cannot be proud of the condoned act of piracy. I cannot buy in to a One Nation under one flag ideology.
As the year clicks over……
On Xmas night as we sat drinking champagne, full from too much food and joyfully belting out carols, a tornado hit the mountain and surrounding areas. For 30 minutes lightening flashed thunder roared, wind swirled in all direction forcing rain and hail in a horizontal frenetic dance.
When is enough, enough? A question that has followed me through grief, community work and the studio. On finding things to embrace, others to resist, and making a song for the trees.