Origins of a Nude Landscape:

In 2004, following a successful solo exhibition at Soho Galleries in Sydney, I untertook a trip back to the Cania Gorge near where I had grown up. I went with my life model, with the intention to gather new material for my next exhibition.

After settling in to our cabin at the caravan park located on the banks of the 'Three Moon Creek, the rather diminutive creek that had created the gorge through eons of gentle erosion, we went for a walk along one of the many tracks. We decided to follow the track to 'The Overhang', walking on a gradual incline up and around some granite outcrops, past 'Dripping Rock' a formation that has never been know to dry up even during severe drought, and gradually descend again to a huge sandstone shelf under which is a large open space where the temperature is eerily cool despite outside temperatures being extremely hot.

This was the 'end of the line' for this bushwalking track. The creek was stoney and only just trickling between pools of clear water. We sat for a while but eventually I began wandering around the place taking lots of photographs and doing several quick sketches. I wanted to get a better view of the actual overhang. I crawled up over some fallen logs and in between huge boulders and came out into an open area a little furtehr upstream. I called Rita, who soon joined me.

We went further, trying to get far enough back to be able to photograph the full cliff that towered above us. Over more boulders and rock ledges, careful to keep our footing. We came to an even more open area, which was encircled by a barrier of trees and hanging vines. I was able to get the photograph I was after. But looking around I noticed Rita beginning to undress.

She stood naked in the centre of the opening, with spotlight-like rays of light illuminating her. The shadows began to dance over her body in a slow rhythm as a easy breeze stirred the trees. In that moment I saw the landscape painted directly onto her body.
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Luckily, I had in my art backpack a large soft-bristled brush I use for quick washes, and two tubes of acrylic, an ochre and a cerulean blue. After some initial reluctance, my model agreed to be my canvas. Using a flake of rock as an improvised palette, I began to mix some earthy greens. I started to paint feverishly over the shifting shadows, the brush caressing her breasts and fleshy contours as I applied paint all over her. I took some photographs to record the experience.

For many years I had been pursuing the idea of fusing the figure into the landscape. After this trip I extended some of those ideas and painted many works that did this in varying ways. This was the beginning of my 'figurative landscapes' series, which I feel gave me a greater understanding of the figure and the landscape. The exhibition of these works opened to a packed gallery in Sydney a year later.

Selected Paintings:

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