And the latest news is – 

In February and March this year, 2018, I had my first solo exhibition for a while, called Fleeting Glimpses. You can see the images soon by clicking on gallery at the top. In the meantime, here is a brief explanation of how it all came about…

The idea of fleeting glimpses first occurred to me back in the autumn 2003, when I finally fulfilled my dream to make it over to Aotearoa New Zealand. I travelled by bus and train extensively around the North and the South Islands, and took lots of photos through the windows when I was not walking around. The exhibition included the prints of some of the first paintings I did as a result of that trip – Rain, Arthur’s Pass, Tongariro and glacier – as reference points for the beginning of it all.

Not surprisingly, the concept of fleeting glimpses relates not just to quick views of landscapes through bus or train windows, but to the fragile state of the world as a direct result of human activity, and the fact that so much is disappearing before our eyes, on our watch. The most obvious example of this is melting glaciers. The original painting of glacier is on two deep canvases, the proportion of ice blocks, so I used the sides to drip the paint down to indicate melting ice. When I revisited Aotearoa New Zealand again in 2016 I was distressed to learn that the Franz Josef Glacier, the glacier depicted in the painting, has receded so much that it is no longer possible to walk up it as I did. Now, the best way to see it is by helicopter, so not only are greenhouse gases on the increase thanks to the fuel needed for the helicopters and other similar activities but the area is polluted by the noise of these machines as they take tourists up to the top multiple times a day.

The work in the exhibition was divided up into three spaces. Room 1 showed images from Australia, Room 2 images from Aotearoa NZ and the hallway, a mix of both.