Jago's Garage, Port Fairy

The angle and depth of the shadows drew me to painting Jago's Garage, along with the pattern of the canopy frill. Well that and the wonderful old doors with their peeling, blue paint. Oh, and yes, the shape of the iron roof against its blunt facade. I particularly enjoyed amplifying the colour of the building's render to create a sharper contrast against the blues and the whites, and capturing the patched pavement. Two old-style petrol pumps used to stand out front, but were removed a few years back and they now stand inside the building along with lots of other mementos; it's a building with heaps of character and reflects how full to the brim it is with interesting stories.

Framed in raw oak.

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I am an artist and author who loves looking for the stories in life and in the world around me, and have spent most of my life telling stories through words and with paint. My novels, short fiction and non-fiction have been published in the United Kingdom and Australia. Several years ago, I decided to dedicate more time to art, and it's a decision I'm delighted I made because I find painting wonderfully absorbing and rewarding. Making a canvas or board spring to life with light and colour, shadows and highlights, is an amazing feeling, and having other people enjoy that work is even better!

Emigrating to Australia over 35 years ago, my first impressions were of the scale of the landscape and sky, the depth of the horizon, the brightness of the light, the vividness of colours and sharpness of contrast, but familiarity has in no way dulled this for me. On the contrary, painting helps me continue to learn to see these qualities in every day life; aspects of which I in turn try to capture in my work.