Dollypot Gold

Just been to Nundle and the Diggings on the Peel River. What a buzzing place it must back then.

“In the Barlee Ranges, long forsaken,
By the dusky warriors of old;
From the silence little echoes waken,
While the white man’s fossicking for gold,
Dollypots are thudding on the hillside,
Pounding up the likely bits of ore.
Emus that were sunning
In the gully bed, are running,
For they never heard a dollypot before.

Down along the big Ashburton River,
Woolly sheep and wild-eyed cattle stray; Breezes set the Spinifex a-quiver,
While among the nearby ranges grey –
Dollypots are drumming on the hillside,
Dollypots are throbbing in the glen,
Brown, the old selector,
Who was once a young prospector,
Is pounding at his dollypot again.”

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“I do not paint the landscape. The sensation and experience of applying the inks, become the landscape.”
After many years of painting and drawing, I felt I could not express an emotional response to my vision using conventional methods and began experimenting with spirit based inks. Acid free, fast drying and translucent, they hum with a creative energy of their own. They are magical. I love colour, its subtlety, boldness, restfulness and cheekiness. These inks swirl and move of their own accord, but they need manipulation and control to reign in their playfulness and allow me to echo the soul and aura of the subject. Lately I have introduced a textured approach with acrylic paints for the foreground in my works, but have continued using the lovely swirly inky skies. My paintings evolve from my own reactions to the mood and nature of what I am endeavouring to convey. They capture spirit, movement and translate those impressions in a semi-abstract, expressionistic manner. Growing up in Brewarrina, my art has been influenced by many childhood memories of the harsh Australian Outback as well as my overseas travels. Sitting beside a campfire, mesmerised by violet heavens above; striding across purple heath covered English Moors;
blinded by the white starkness of the Antarctica or simply reading a book about Apothecary in my chair - all awaken a desire to translate those experiences into a tangible reflection of my memories. A song or piece of poetry can also inspire a painting, helping me represent the mood and nature of the subject.My studio has been hand hewn from the solid rock face on which my house is built. I actually descend though a trapdoor in the lounge room floor! I'm most creative in the early hours, working on 2-3 pieces at a time, listening to a 1950s station on my old radio. These paintings of mine, are a reflection of that endless quest to record the blessings of nature swirled around with a dram of whimsical romanticism.