Finke Valley

Outback Scrub mixed media 100 x 100 2015

In 2010 i joined a trip coordinated by the Larapinta Creative Arts camp to travel out to the Finke Valley in Central Australia. It was my first trip to the Red Centre. On my first night in Alice Springs I dreamt of two hearts meeting. I knew i was in the right place at the right time. At night, I slept in a swag under the stars. The days were spent drawing and painting in the desert. Two days later i was picked up by the organisers and driven three hours into the Australian outback.

When we arrived at our site, I became speechless. Literally lost for words. I felt compelled to lie down on the earth to be embraced by the mother landscape. I wept as I knew the land was speaking to me. I could hear language in the elements of this landscape.

Life Drawing and Portraits

Sharkey Mo

gouache & ink 2007

When we lived in Coledale NSW we had a dog called Elmo . He was a red staffy who ran incessantly along the beach biting the waves. He spun in circles yelping, trying to catch his tail. Mo joined my trips to our local beach – Sharkeys - where I’d set up my shade shelter each day and paint and draw the seascapes, landscapes and trees. I carried gouaches, charcoal, ink and paper, plus a thermos of tea and fruit. I wore my swimmers and often would sleep inside the shelter when it was too hot to paint. Mo would sleep too until we were refreshed enough to be creative again.

Kids oil on paper 800 x 600 2012

Grass St was where i grew up in Wellington NZ,in a sprawling 100 year old farm house overlooking Oriental Bay . I spent my first 16 years there .My mother was a painter,my father an entrepenure ,my 4 brothers made music ,films, climbed trees with me and searched the town belt for hidden treasures. My half brother and half sisters lived their lives in Wellington and frequently spent time at Grass st too . I grew to know and love them all .The house was on a half acre of land filled with pine trees terraced lawns with hidden pathways.into the surrounding bush. We had german shepard dogs and several cats as pets. .Our living room was generous in size and had large french windows that looked out onto Wellington harbour below.

Sharkey Mo

I grew up watching my mother Helen draw and paint. It was an integral part of her life and my education, watching Helen with her circle of artist friends hold life drawing sessions in our living room. In 1985, while studying at City Art Institute in Sydney, I began my own discovery of life drawing. Learning to draw from a model was fundamental to every aspect of art practise. I was completing my BA degree in Fine Art at that time. When it was finished, I travelled back to London and with the support of my family spent a year in the life drawing studio at Byam Shaw School of Arts.

 This was the most concentrated time I spent with life models. It was wonderful to be so immersed.. I was honing a skill. On my return to Sydney in 1989, I continued life drawing on a weekly basis at Brandling St studio in Alexandria. As of 2023, I returned to monthly life drawing sessions at the SERVO Bar in Port Kembla NSW .Portraits have also been a constant in my life. My curiosity into self-enquiry was what drove me and the studies of close friends and family.

Grass Street

A Night on the Town acrylic and ink on paper