"Obstacles", Oil On Canvas, 91 cm x 91 cm, 2016
Given that it is now high summer I decided to let the sun out in this scene, which is loosely based on a photograph I took about 15 years ago somewhere in central Victoria. I struggled to come up with a title until I showed it to some friends during a critique session recently. They thought that the dead tree and large crack in the foreground acted as some sort of barrier to reaching the more promising scene on the horizon. Which is probably what I had in mind in the first place - sometimes it requires a third party to crystallize what my motives are. The last thing I wanted to achieve in this work was just a routine pastoral scene - it needed an edge.
This is the first time I have photographed a painting using my new smart phone - yes at long last I've purchased a smart phone. Now to get the hang of it.......