Drawing a line in the sand

After spending the last 13 years being totally absorbed in abstract art, I’ve decided to draw a line in the sand and concentrate on figurative work. By figurative work, I don’t mean painting people on the beach or in a cafe. Rather, I plan to tell the stories of friends and family. Abstraction will still play a big part, it just won’t be the main part.

The first story I’m telling is that of my uncle who died just before his 18th birthday. His love of the land where he lived was well known. He planned to work the land with his father, raising sheep for wool. Little did he know raising sheep and working in the yards would be the reason for his untimely death. Catching a rare disease, probably through a wound of some kind on his hand, he died a distressing death in a hospital with his mother and father at his side in 1934.

He was the first person to be buried on the family property. His mother died 10 years later in 1944 while his father died in 1974. They now rest together in what has become known as “the family plot”. A bower bird has taken up residence within the small compound, shaded by several olive trees and a jacaranda. The jacaranda showers the headstones with pale purple blossoms every year.

The young man’s story has become a treasured part of family lore, and I want to commemorate his life through my paintings.

"Unexpected Parting" - oil on stretched canvas 80cm x 100cm

"My Country" - oil on stretched canvas 80cm x 100cm