The Pitchroller

And another funny little recently completed painting/collage. This one called “the pitch roller” is a painting of a very ancient but entirely practical machine used on the local oval to help maintain the cricket pitch. I love the paired down functionality of this machine and the way it is both at odds with, yet entirely at home on the oval. When the burnt orange coloured little roller, driven by the same friendly guy who seems to be there every year (and who is not bothered by the oval dogs), comes out of the shed, it’s a real sign that summer is on the way. The guy and machine are part of the furniture and I get a little bit nostalgic in a ‘bill the steam shovel’ kind of way.
I think it reminds me of working in local council ‘works’ departments back in the day and going to Engineering field days where bikini clad girls would open up the back of a spanking new, shiny garbage truck and the sales rep would pull out a case of beer, “Look what I’ve found here, how surprising”, he would say, throwing a can of beer to my boss, “and here’s a lemonade for the lovely lady”, passing a can of cola my way, (as though that would make me more likely to recommend we spend rate payer’s money on that $500K garbage truck…). Bloody good thing those days have passed really, but I still love these unseen and useful bits of machinery and public infrastructure. Beach cleaning machines, street sweepers and pipe breakers. You may also remember previously painted water tanks and sewerage works so there’s a theme developing here, I just don’t quite know what it is.

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I am an artist who has run an e-bike business from home for the past 15 years while raising three children and loves most things about living in the “People’s Republic of O’connor” (Inner North, Canberra). I graduated with an MBA (Strategic Operations Management) from Charles Stuart University a long time ago and a BA in Visual Arts (Painting) from the Australian National University a very, very, long, long time ago.
There are a couple of underlying, reoccurring and interrelated themes that inform my art practice and bubble to the surface of my paintings (both implicitly or explicitly) from time to time.
The first of these themes is the idea of ‘desire lines’. In urban and transport planning ‘desire lines’ refer to the unofficial paths that collective feet make through the landscape over time. These well-trodden paths are both subversive, being illicit, and conversely, the path of least resistance. Desire Lines are paths that form themselves and are evidence of both humanity and the impact of humans in the environment.
Secondly, I use the landscape, and elements within the landscape, to explore what I’m thinking about ‘in the moment’. The moment (or muse) can include an emotion or idea, such as gratitude to a friend or joy in life’s journey.
Often, the inspiration for a painting, is a personal reaction to the zeitgeist and current bigger picture concerns.
A third related theme is an interest in, and love of exercise, and being outdoors.
Finally related to all of the above, it's impossible to paint landscapes, or places or people (in fact anything) without having some awareness in and reaction to climate change and our role in it, so as inferred above, this is also a frequently occurring theme throughout my paintings. I hope my paintings inspire others to actively explore the world around them, as well as their relationship to it.