43cm x 53cm

Acrylic on Polycotton

Framed

Drawing the scene in front of us, rather than simply taking a photograph, commits it to memory. On a road trip through south western Queensland last year, I drew my way from place to place. Every time we stopped for lunch or a cuppa I drew what was in front of me. When I look at the drawings I made, or the gouache paintings I painted in the evenings, I am transported back to sunny river banks with flies ever present and with one eye out for a suspicious rustle in the grass. Our memories are powerful and I rely on mine when I am painting to transport me back to a place. This allows me to recreate, with feeling, the atmosphere of the environment, in a much more visceral way than is possible by just looking at a photograph.