In 1981,2&3 I studied painting in Toowoomba at the Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education now the University of Southern Queensland. Toowoomba being perched high on top of a mountain range has some spectacular views looking east to Brisbane, and flat slightly undulating hills and dales looking west towards Oakey and Mt Gowrie. A fitting place for a fledgling 17-year-old want to be artist who loved a spectacular view of the landscape
In my second year of Art School on a sculpture trip to Sydney, I met Rex Irwin, an art dealer from Sydney. Rex visited one of his painters a couple of times a year. The painter lived on the southwestern side of Mount Gowrie and Rex took me along to one of those visits. Sam Fullbrook was the painter’s name, he painted beautiful abstract landscapes of the view from the southwest side of his studio. I visited Sam’s studio on three occasions in the eighties and observed him painting on two of those occasions. Sam was very protective of his technical processes. I was very lucky to have him impart a few tips on his colour theories and painting techniques on one of those occasions.
When Sam died around 20 years after I first met him, I found myself thinking about his work and some of his advice. Eventually, I decided to thoroughly experiment with that advice and incorporate some of his principles with my own. I combined Sam’s advice, my experiments, and a dream I quite often have and have done most of my life. In the dream I fly high above the landscape, floating over trees, and houses, sometimes high above the clouds, and sometimes just above the treetops, I bound over the landscape with a gentle floating stride, wonderful feelings.
My most common approach when painting the subject of the Australian Landscape is to build up layers of colours and shapes to portray that seemingly endless view experienced from my favorite vantage points, and my floating dreams. I hope to translate feelings rather than portray specific and obvious land formations of a region. I would like the viewer to be able to translate the artwork with their personal experiences of their immediate environment rather than being pinned down to a specific geological location.
