AFTER THE FLOODS

FINALIST PRO HART ART PRIZE 2025. 

On my 8 day painting trip on the banks of the recently flooded Paroo River, at Eulo, 1100 km from Brisbane in far Western Queensland, this painting was something different for me. More abstract and disconnected, and away from my usual style. 

 I've been wanting to move in a more abstract direction and this artwork seems to be a step along the way. I've had to resist 'fixing' things, connecting things and even making things look like things. 

 It is was a surprise to me how good it felt to let go of my usual 'rules' or habits. And it surprised me to see that it did somehow embody the way the landscape felt to me, just a few weeks after it was 6 metres underwater....

Layers of running water, mud, grass and detritus altered the land, broken branches and piles of debris fetched up against trees still standing.  What I like most about this painting is the many layers where you can see parts of the layer beneath and parts of the layer beneath that etc etc.