When did your love affair with art begin?
It started when I was about five years old. My father painted an image of a half woman half man (split down the middle) onto the side of a box in the garage using house paint which immediately dripped and ran down the surface. I think I was intrigued by the image because it couldn’t really be resolved by my young mind. Was it a woman or a man? It was there for years and I’d always notice it.
Take us inside your studio.
I’m based in Mullmbimby, northern NSW. My studio is bigger than my house and I built both the house and studio myself. I knew exactly what I would be doing in my studio so made it just right. My property is 12 acres and there’s no one here to bother me. I’m alone mostly and I’m definitely a daytime person. I go to the studio around 8am and do some stream of consciousness writing for about 30-40 minutes. Then I put on some soft music and begin working. The afternoon session is the most creative and productive. All the best things happen then. I stop at about 5pm and come back to the house for dinner but I usually go to the studio and sit there just looking for quite a while in silence.
How long have you been practicing as an artist?
I had an apprenticeship as a graphic reproducer when I left high school at 15 but didn’t stick around because the industry was going digital. Then I did an apprenticeship as a landscape gardener which was really very creative work. I then worked as a comedian in comedy clubs, which led to cartooning for national magazines. The cartooning led to large scale painting.
What is your subject matter?
Themes work well for me. I like working toward an exhibition that has a specific theme and I’ll read books and look at images around the theme. Living in a rural area means I see a lot of horses and cattle so they show up a fair bit. I don’t tend to use photos/models in a literal way, I like to look at a model or image and just let it effect the marks but not control them.
What materials do you use and why?
House paint firstly and that’s definitely because of dad and the man/lady he painted when I was a child. I like acrylics because I have no patience and want things to dry. Oil sticks, pastels, ink, charcoal, graphite, photo collage, spray paint, coffee, tea bags, paper, cardboard, ply, canvas, a whole array of things.
What have you been working on recently?
I finished 25 paintings in November for my up coming Saint Ned exhibition. Then I did 80 fractured horse drawings on beautiful cotton paper over Christmas. I make all my own timber panels and do some framing too. I also host a huge group show here at my studio twice a year called Forest Art. It’s a wild mixed media extravaganza which makes money for various charities such as Beyond Blue and Rainforest 4 Foundation. They are one night only shows with about 400 people in attendance.