In this version of Mud I had a compelling feeling of the big, tall tree with the weight of the dead hanging foxes while a strong diagonal pushes back up from the bottom, getting right away from the dominantly horizontal gate. But the consequent narrative - 'you go through the mud, through the gate, past death, across the paddock, into the hills, find peace, etc' was entirely wrong. My paintings have nothing whatsoever to do with that.

I had already decided to attempt the local hills as they meet the flat plain again but was, as so often happens, committed to a background and foreground, with no middle ground. At one stage there was a linking track, but the narrative was far too strong.

Then a neighbour burned off his barley stubble, exposing this wonderful broken fence line, a crow found our dog's bone right outside the window, so I got some good close photos of it, and I added a solid lump of truck, though I hate painting those tyres and bars and I cheated by substituting an easy hubcap. I had fun with the fence post as I enjoy the concept of something so rotten holding up such a large, heavy gate.

Finally, on the last day, I tied it all together with the wire.

**As well as more notes on the Compare Mud and the Trucks Page there is also a comparison of my development in painting the Mount Lofty Ranges on the Compare Hills Page.