09 July 10

Cloud over the Flinders Ranges

Have just spent the very long cold spell working on the current commission which is now, at last, very nearly finished. It goes to a framer on Monday and then, if all goes well, off to its new home in Melbourne. It will have taken nearly two and a half months.

Like all my work, this painting dropped into the doldrums for a while but is emerging strongly and, with nowhere to go apart from down another magnificent gorge, again, or for a haircut 230 Kms away, focusing on it day after day has enabled me to work through the problems rather than avoid them by adding or changing bits. Now that the end approaches, however, as in all my paintings of machinery, insoluble compositional flaws caused by errant pipes or awkward lumps of metal get painted out, though they are probably essential for an engine to run.

This one, like the previous two, also includes the patron, visiting. A bit like the moving paintings in Harry Potter’s Hogwarts.