What's rockin' my little old world...

And here it is...

One of the works in progress, a river delta from the sky.

The image isn't great, it was just a quick iphone progress shot, but I wanted to share it anyway.

Quick Promo...

My darling friend Ted McKinlay is having a solo show and the dude can draw!
I helped hang the show this week, it 's a beautiful show, I was very impressed, so come along and be equally impressed!

What has made me smile like a maniac in the studio this week....

So I've been searching for more satisfaction in my practice, and I think I've found it...
A way to incorporate all of the little methods, materials and process that I enjoy so much in to my own 'grand unified theory' (of painting, not physics, be reasonable!) it's basic and now seems pretty obvious, but I'm thrilled nonetheless!

I've been doing studies for this one work for years now and I've finally found a way to resolve it, what I've imagined matches up to what I'm making and it is very exciting...

Here's a picture of a study from a couple of years ago. It's a 5 x 5cm watercolour on paper.

But at last, I've gone bigger, I'm working on a 50 x 50cm panel. Said panel has been treated to many layers of Golden Crackle paste, absorbent ground, glass bead gel, fluid acrylics and most recently, a nice leveling isolation coat. Next week I bring in the big boys... That's right, it's time to paint in oil!

When my various forms of technology decide to get along better, I'll post photos of where I'm at, stay tuned.

My new thought for the day

A friend posted this on Facebook and it was just what I needed to hear. It's funny how it can be easier to trust the things you know when they are reaffirmed by someone else.
 Anyway, this little quote has summed up why I'm taking some time away from exhibiting to focus on just painting until I'm truly satisfied with how and what I produce...

Show Closing Next Week

Here's a little taste of the show that closes in a week, the last day is Saturday 3rd March so if you'd like to see it you'd better head on down to Hand Held Gallery in the Paramount arcade on Bourke street before it's too late...

Carina Nebula by Touch!

So I've been mixing media, playing with layering Golden acrylic mediums and gels, building texture and watching them interact... I've also been getting ready to paint in oil, I want to paint Nebulae and I can see the in oil, with layers and layers of soft translucent glazing building these beautiful gassy colourfields.

But again, I don't want to separate processes in my practice, I want to find my own 'unified thoery' of painting so I considered starting these oils on my mixed media grounds. 

Then I found this image...It was so close to what I had imagined for my work!

This is an image of the Carina Nebula (one of my top 5 favorites) shown in texture! It's so amazing, check out Hubblesite.org!

How beautiful is this?

I found this amazing image while doing some research, the hands are in the wrong positions, but even still, I thought it was really beautiful. I've always seen something 'godly' in the Hubble space telescope images and thought this was a really cute expression of that. The image is credited to Joe Tucciarone.