Listening to Oprah - Reminders

Take care and honour myself and full myself up with good stuff. Then I have the ability to offer my full self- full expression to the world.

Align your personality with your purpose, and no one can touch you.

Starting listening to what feels true to me. Torn between what the world is saying and what was true to myself. Listen to God and his purpose and longterm plan for me. From the very beginning listen to your instinct. Lean on God.

Luck = preparation meeting opportunity + timing.

There is no real doing in the world without being. Being- presence, connection, God. Can only do that if you know yourself. Self awareness. Allows you to make the best decisions for yourself.

Inner life intact- fuelled with who I am. Great lessons come from things that are challenging. How I can use        as a platform.

The intention is going to determine the reaction and result. Intention based.
Life fuelled from being which fuels the doing. Wanting to connect. Grounded in my own self.

Everyone wants to fulfil the highest, truest expression of themselves as a human being.

Pay attention to my life- everything is trying to take you home.

You need emotion and logic for decision making. You doing should come out of your being.

Reading Grahame Sydney's Biography... major New Zealand Artist.

As in all great painting, the art and the maker are inseparable, one the mirror of the other.

Achievement sustained over a life time of courage and dedication.

Oeuvre- meaning- the body of work of a painter.

Consider relationships between: Mass + perspective, surface immediacy and background colour + form.

Your unique vision of nature is a matter of catching the instant look of moments when they are most beautiful.

Learn as others learned when it comes to the mastery of technique, be yourself in everything else.

What you want your art to mirror about your own self + life.

Henri (old master and teacher) - Look and study your immediate surrounds. Your direct experience. Translate this into your painting.

Hearing the rain on the roof brings me back to the times where I am in dense wilderness, far away from civilisation, surrounded by some incredible people. The feeling of being protected completely from the rain by a thin fly, tent, biv, hut, and surrounded by people I love brings me great comfort, contentment and happiness.

In New Zealand we are surrounded by some of the most amazing landscape in the world. From crystal clear rivers, up to the mountain tops and everything in between.

When we spent time in nature we slow down and appreciate the most simple things in life. The first sun rays hitting your skin at the beginning of a new day, the feeling of native flora brushing against you, the bittersweet taste of fresh snow berries, the refreshing breeze, the icy invigorating water, the crackling and warming fire. All of our senses are engaged, fully experiencing what is present.

I love the deep insightful conversation and connections build while spending time with people in nature. When there is no distractions of technology and the demands of life are put aside. The consumerism and culture telling us what to look like, act like, a powerful influence is not present.

A time to gain perspective, to breathe and fully, yes, fully live in the moment.


Hearing the rain on the roof always brings me back to this and I love it.

And the 100m roll of bubble wrap arrives!! Super exciting to be finishing the paintings and getting them photographed and ready to send to Auckland. Hard work pays off, you just have to keep consistant! Looking back you can see how every bit counts and contributes to the end product. Thank you God!

Running out of room for storing these large paintings before Parnell Gallery exhibition. I am liking the theme of blue coming through in these different paintings. Blue is an emotive colour- very calming and is evident throughout nature.

Progress for Parnell Gallery exhibition May 2017. The relationship of colour in the painting is becoming a main focus. I am developing the complexity of colour. Naturalistic, with a strong sense of light. Different colour relationships, even exaggerating parts of nature that is depicted. Simplified forms create no barrier for the viewer to interrupt clear colours - primary focus.
Being careful with the strong gold colours. Allowing the blues and greens to come through and dominate. Harmonious. However have unequal amounts of opposite colour to complement, contrast and balance.
Having more grey scale paintings in terms of tone. Having less contrast so the focus is predominanlty the subtle soft colours. This creates a very soft and sensitive colour palette contrasting the bold energetic brush marks.

Currently completing a series of three 1200x800 valley scenes. All three images display aerial perspective creating a strong sense of depth. Layering and change of brush size also contributes to this.
Brush work. Brush marks are so important. The way they describe the form and characteristics of the object/material/organic matter. The plains of paint that create form and reflect light. Continuous brush work that does not facet and break up the form. Want to create solid masses and evoke the gravity present.

Artists presently looking at. John Singer Sargent, Stanley Palmer.

Have all paintings finished by the end of March and allow April to finish edges+pack and do paintings for other galleries.