I had recently moved to Tasmania when a friend suggested I visit Bicheno on the east coast of Tasmania. So I did, I drove up for the weekend, rented an Airbnb, and spent my time painting the landscape around the town. One afternoon, I drove a little further north and caught sight of sunlight shimmering on the surface of the Douglas River. The reflection was so vivid, so full of light, that I pulled over, set up my easel by the roadside, and began to paint.
As I worked, heavy clouds began to gather and rumble overhead. The first drops fell, light and scattered, before the sky opened into a full downpour. I kept painting, trying to capture the majesty and movement of the approaching storm.
If you look closely, you’ll see where the rain spattered the surface, lifting tiny flecks of paint before vanishing. I left those marks untouched, a quiet reminder of nature’s presence, and its power.
Title: The Douglas River gleams below the blossoming rainclouds above (2021)
Size: 23cm (height) x 39cm (width)
Medium: oil on board
Frame: Tasmanian oak, finished with sun-thickened oil, shellac and wax.
AUD