Bells Rapids

Bells Rapids is a lovely spot where the Avon River flows out of the Perth Hills. This painting is a recollection of a picnic with a friend where we sat and drew through the afternoon. The palette is varied greens, ochre and terracotta, with accents of black and pale blue, painted in oil and cold wax using edged tools, creating a textured surface.
This is a one off original piece painted on canvas and comes with D rings and cord ready to hang. The sides, painted in acrylic, are black to pick up accents in the painting. The piece is unframed unless a framing option is chosen. Initialled on the front, signed on the back.

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I am an artist based in Perth, Western Australia. My interests over the years have ranged between portraits, figures, printmaking and landscape. My work is held in several public and private collections both here and overseas.

I studied at Glasgow School of Art in the 1980s, thereafter combining parenthood and part-time work while developing a personal abstracted style related to the Scottish landscape. A move to Western Australia took me in a new direction using collagraph printmaking to make textured surfaces which I felt more reflected my new surroundings. Returning to Scotland after a few years, I worked full-time, continuing to paint and exhibit when I found the time.

Now back permanently in Australia, I am painting with renewed enthusiasm. My current work is embedded in landscape, moving between representation and abstracted impressions. Although I’ve mostly painted in oils, I have only recently discovered cold wax, which adds a wonderfully rich buttery surface which can be layered, textured, scraped back, scratched into, and which is best served using palette knives and other tools.

Using sketches, photographs and memory I like to see where the paint takes me, looking for exciting expressive marks, and the play of one colour laid over another. The different tools produce surprises – so it’s an adventure. I hope to make paintings that will immediately attract, and then draw the viewer to look closely and discover more.