The Journeyman

Well, once again I’ve been absent for some weeks from blogging- don’t know where the time goes but there’s a lot on at the moment and a big fat family wedding on the horizon - (lots of cream cakes and alcohol!)

I’m in charge of coaxing flowers in to bloom at the right time to decorate the garden and tables as it is going to be a Mad Hatter Tea Party - hoping for sunshine and NO WASPS! If all else fails I have the number of a flower wholesaler!

On the art front I’ve been very busy moving in new(ish) directions and have decided to organise my first solo exhibition in 2012. It will be a selection of themed work employing various media entitled The Journeyman.

The opening image of this blog is an oil on canvas called Kennington Canal and the imagery connotations are obvious. Peter and I spent a fascinating day with our cameras exploring the Kennet and Avon Canal around Hungerford and meeting some wonderful characters along the tow path in the summer of 2010.


Passing Through is another oil on canvas.



It is a landscape of the A3 cutting through Butser Hill in the autumn of 2010. Here colour is important as the vibrant golds and russets of the beechwood sing out before they lose their leaves and winter takes hold. The title of the painting invites questions. Is it the road, or the storm with accompanying waterspouts that is transient- or perhaps both? The structure of the imagery also promotes thoughtful contemplation - alternative routes to the one built by man exist but symbolic gates and brambles create obstacles to be overcome before the natural path can be taken.

The motifs in the new exhibition will relate to the multiple ways in which mankind explores and impacts on inner and outer landscapes.

Some images are already produced or in the making while others are still embryonic. Roadways, pathways, tracks and various forms of navigation play a major role in the paintings which I will be sharing with you here and in my gallery as they manifest.

A few images will be more subtle in their presentation of my theme such as this white rose which is more concerned with inner thought processes and spiritual journeying.


The fragility of colour and texture of the white rose, an eternal symbol of peace, is contrasted with the hard, immovable man made concrete block against which the vase is placed. The background pink is strong and undiluted representing the strength and power of unconditional love which is the only sure route to establishing inner and outer serenity.

In esoteric healing pink is the higher vibration of the heart and green is the colour of harmony and represents the physical heart. I have called this painting Pascali after a David Austen white hybrid tea rose.

Road to Volterra is a pure watercolour and focuses attention on a manmade road which curves and carves its way through the Italian landscape.





Here too there is a spiritual dimension which can provoke other thoughts apart from how to travel to a particular town or city.

Some aspects of the painting are portrayed in painstaking detail, cradling the curves and meanderings of the tarmac while other areas have been left blank. This can suggest how we focus our attention on some things as we journey through life whilst totally ignoring other aspects or even being unaware that they exist. The road is indeterminate in its conclusion- does it turn to the left- a path that is fairly clearly marked or does it travel straight on or turn to the right?

Either way keep your eyes peeled on my blog and website for date and venue of the exhibition.

The novels are still progressing although a little slowly mostly because I’m waiting for feedback from my focus group(family) before the final edit of The Turning Zone. The others are taking a back seat for a while although I’m planning a holiday to Italy in September during which Peter and I will take some time for researching my ’Italian Work’. Hopefully this will involve visits to Rome, Naples, Anzio and Montecassino Abbey.

Add to this my Astrology course and you can see why blogging is spasmodic! Hardly any time for yoga or meditation at the moment either!

Anyway hope you enjoy these new images which are available for sale from my Gallery.