South West of Waterloo

From Rachel's balcony in Waterloo which has a great view to the west of Sydney and the mountains. I've painted a few daytime scenes from this vantage point, and went back to paint something of the twilight and night for "Out of the Dark", a show Ben Cahill and I are putting on in May at Chrissie Cotter gallery with some UV as well as normal lighting.

Thanks to Rachel for for her hospitality, and letting me take over the balcony and paint there

 

 After a couple of evenings, the photo lit by my UV headlamp(for scorpion hunting according to the ads, or detecting pee in the swimming pool)

 

The same version under normal light

 

Day 1

Mardi Gras Fair Day

 

Once they dropped the cover charge I went into the fair at Victoria Park and checked out the mime/drag show who were doing their last couple of numbers on the main stage. I had a bit of a look around - huge queues for the bar, the portaloos, and the Glamazon video booth, then sat down to draw these stallholders packing up and a crane behind them

King St at Night

 

I went down to Newtown station fairly late last saturday to start something for the "Night Visions" show I'm putting on with Ben Cahill at Chrissie Cotter gallery in May.

I met up with Damon, who shares my studio. He was carving floral motifs into pieces of stone at the same spot on King St. I was wearing my UV headlamp so together we were a bit of a hit with the punters. I'm going to have to have a go at portrait busking with the hiViz colours(against a couple of regular colours and a headlamp

 

The same version under UV lighting

 

 The painting and our kits

 

Damon hunched over a piece of marble

Trees in the rain

 

Misty rain is a welcome relief after the firiest summer. The view out the back door at blackheath

From Govetts Leap

 

I went to Blackheath to start this painting of the burnt bush starting to regenerate after the awful fires this year. Thanks to Peter Urquhart for his hospitality. The  Grose valley below was extensively burnt as well as the cliffs and plateau opposite, and right up the cliff to the lookout where the fire was stopped by fire crews and maybe the wind change the saved Blackheath itself. Some areas in this view had burnt more completely than others so there's a mosaic of reddish brown and green tree crowns in the forest below, and areas further off that look almost denuded except for blackened treetrunks.

Now the trees are starting to sprout new shoots and there's been a deluge of rain. Tree ferns are amazingly hardy. On the cliff below the lookout, in an area which had been completely torched, and all the other woody shrubs had been totally consumed, the tree ferns were growing new fronds, lurid green against the charred slope

This and the photo below are from a day of studio painting  (as it rained!)to complete the ground after spending the afternoon before at Govett's leap trying to paint the cliffs. 

I'm looking forward to getting back out to the lookout to continue with blocking in the form of the cliffs and bush, add a tree, and paint up the sky, maybe with dramatic rainclouds (as long as its not too wet where I'm painting).

Its a great temporary studio, there's even a tap to wash my hands so i can eat a picnic

 

The view from Govetts leap - this is what I painted the first afternoon on site

Jam Night at the Family Hotel, Katoomba

 

I was staying with Peter Urquhart at Blackheath and starting a painting at Govett's Leap nearby, and in the evenng we went down to the Family Hotel by the railway station in Katoomba for the jam night

 

Electric country blues

 

The guy who did the mix and maybe organised the night. If I get some names from Pete I'll caption the performers

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tuning up

 

Peter Urquhart on keyboard and viola, and singing

PyroCB over Canberra

 

 One of the many fire driven thunderstorms in NSW and Victoria in January 2020, this photo with mixed UV with daylight

 

just daylight

 UV only

 

Going nuclear with the pink sky to see what happens with layering up UV colour since Ben Cahill and I are putting on "out of the Dark", a show at Chrissie Cotter in just over 2 months, where we are going to use UV lighting

 

Under UV light (camera struggling a bit here)

 

Pyro Cumulonimbus forms over fires south of Canberra a few days ago