During Easter 2012 myself and fellow artists Charmaine Pike, Michelle Hungerford and Michael Herron spent some time working plein air at a farm in the Monaro Plains, courtesy of Defiance Gallery. As the photo indicates, it had quite the feeling of a 19th century ‘pastoral’. For myself the last drawing of the trip was the one where everything came together and it was susequently selected for the NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize.

‘Granite Field, Monaro Plains’ 109 x 78cm, Acrylic gouache ink and charcoal on paper

This is the blurb I provided to go with the painting;

‘This work was created over Easter 2012, at a property outside Cooma on the Monaro Plains. The collections of granite boulders and dieback trees that dot the property have the starkness of the European romantic tradition. This was emphasised on the day of this painting when the initially sunny day quickly transformed as a strong southerly front brought an unseasonal snowstorm. The energy and tension imbued into an artwork by the unpredictability of working en plein air is what I love about the process. The day finished with a beer, contemplating the painting on the veranda as snow fell and the other artists started a snowfight.’