Sarina Beach

The beach has always been a great source of inspiration to me. Travelling to Sarina, seeing the beach for the first time was a surprise. Not tropical as expected, scrubby almost. Tourist brochures paint a different picture.

Santorini 2004

In August of 2004 I made the trip to Santorini via Gothenburg in Sweden with my friend, Claudine Slater. We took the early flight with 200 other enthusiastic Swedes to this beautiful island. Approaching the airport by Kamari beach our pilot banked steeply revealing the airstrip and ocean within our window frame, slightly hair raising!

Two weeks were spent traveling between Kamari and the coast visiting places like Oia, Imerovigli, Thira to name a few plus Exogonia visiting the Argiros Winery and Art Space Winery where we spent an entertaining few hours with the owner.

All of these paintings have been painted Plein Aire. Kind cafe' owners would allow me to sit and paint in the early morning capturing the light of the day. Staying a couple of days in Oia gave me plenty of inspiration with views across the Caldera and the beautiful landscape that is Santorini.

I took cut up pieces of canvas that packed easily into my bag along with a small Pochade box with a limited palette of colors. These have all been painted in my favourite medium, oils.

Malaysia 2011

I have been to Malaysia a few times, the paintings done in 2011 seem to stand out over the others. All done in watercolors because of the travel restrictions on oil paint and medium making it difficult to use. Watercolors prove to be compact, using a small palette of colors in a metal case that opens up to reveal the colors plus an area to put water, a couple of brushes and a small and large drawing pad is all I need, and of course water.

Painted at the Mosque in Muar (Bandar Maharani, the royal city), southern Malaysia on the west coast. Situated at the mouth of the Muar River there is two mosques situated both sides of the river. I loved the blue domes. Arriving at the mosque it was polite to ask if I could paint within the grounds.

The mosque across the river.

Little boats will take you across the river to a food market which serve locally produced traditional fare, delicious.

Masjid Jamek, Kuala Lumpur's oldest mosque

Penang, Malaysia my favourite part of the world

Kuching, Malaysian Borneo

Love Lane, Penang, Malaysia

Taiping

The Taiping Gardens with the Rain Trees

The Clan Jetties, Penang

Bali 2011

On a trip to Bali in 2011 I completed little watercolors whilst traveling their beautiful landscape.

Staying in Candidasa at the beautiful Ida's Homestay there was plenty of inspiration from the little beach just outside the main compound.

The view from Candidasa township, drew plenty of attention from others waiting for their bus. Sitting under a large tree in the morning creating this little piece.

Walking around the village there is always something to find to stop and capture as is this the many little huts created for their cattle to stay out of the sun during the day.

Perhaps not painted onto the correct paper, that is what happens when I need to capture a moment, a little light that catches my eye. Packing light when traveling anything will do.

My driver, Sonny took me to Putong. Surrounded by rice paddies he described as the most prettiest in all of Bali, I wouldn't disagree with him. Early morning I took a spot by the side of the road whilst Sonny waited patiently to paint this beautiful scene.

Rough sketches is all it takes to get a feel for the area I am painting. 

White Beach

White Beach

A little watercolor.....

Preferring to paint outdoors I recently completed these little watercolors of the hills surrounding my property whilst recovering from a recent illness. These were completed from my bedroom window.

Photographed from my sketchbook

They start taking on a life of their own, design creeps in from my imagination because of the confines of my room

Most of the watercolors are 5 x 12cm in size

Watching the wet season unfold before me gives me the changes of colors and mood I am looking for.

Fascinated by the shapes of the clouds that form so quickly in wet season of far north Queensland gives great inspiration for the imagination of shapes that appear.

The use of stronger color to describe the changing moods of the day, using a little design to create certain shapes.

Incorporating more design and imagination that what I see in front of me, showing the first light of the day.