the time it takes
20 August 2016
Almost everyone who pages through my sketchbook asks 'How long does one of your paintings take?' The answer is ... around about 2 hours. That's a long time to sit in one spot! But here's the thing. I ...
in my sketchbook Clear tags
urban sketch in italy - step by step
5 August 2016
I thought it would be fun to take a series of shots showing the steps I take when doing one of my urban sketches. Here is the scene I chose. It's in the tiny town of Daghei in the Dolomites in Italy. ...
time in the mountains
31 July 2016
It has been ages since I wrote a blog post because we've been spending the last few weeks in the mountains with very little mobile coverage. And, to be honest, when we're in solitude-mode, I don't oft...
five weeks in Spain - part 2 - flowers
23 June 2016
We have visited Spain and Catalunya for rock climbing many, many times - in fact we've lost count! We've always visited either in autumn or winter. This year, the rain in France drove us south in spri...
five weeks in Spain - part 1 - little villages
20 June 2016
We are back in France after 5 weeks in Catalunya and Northern Spain. A mostly climbing trip I did manage to do quite a lot of sketching and David did do a little jumping. Our first trip to Spain in sp...
travel journals on display at Wanaka Library
5 February 2016
For the next month I will have a number of my travel journals and urban sketches on display at the Wanaka Library. These sketchbooks and paintings are from many years of travel in New Zealand, Europe,...
working from sketches
8 January 2016
I live in a truly spectacular part of the world. Surrounded by big mountains, crystal clear lakes, lots of grassy farmland, beautiful rivers, forest, glaciers and lots and lots of wilderness. And yet,...
2015 reflections
4 January 2016
As I continue to grow as an artist, I find immense value in going back and reflecting on work I've completed in the past. I'm good at dating most of my works and it is heartening, especially when I'm ...
island time
24 October 2015
David and I love the Mediterranean. It suits me especially because I love the sea, but I'm a real scaredy-cat when it comes to waves. It's not that I'm not a good swimmer, it's just that I was born wa...