The sweet and pure beauty of the common camellia. 

Her soft white petals open wide, layer by layer in the warming sunlight, revealing gentle whispers from within. 

She sings a song in soft-scented harmony with her petaline cupping, a song not heard, but smelt. 

Her sweet perfume brings forth a smile on the face of her spectator as she blows a fragrant kiss.

It’s late afternoon on Lake Orr in Varsity Lakes and a lone pelican glides gracefully through the water. On the surface, it appears to slide through the water as if on a conveyor belt, leaving only the smallest of wakes behind.

Serene beauty. Nature at its wonderful best.

This piece comes with a heavy heart.

This is one of the beautiful Black Swans that graced Lake Orr’s shores, Varsity Lakes, Gold Coast, Australia. Sadly, in late November 2023, Poppy, as she was affectionately known, was injured by a Bull Shark, which are prevalent in the lake. Locals rushed her to the local veterinary surgeon, but sadly she could not be saved.

So, in loving memory of Poppy, seen here with two of her four cygnets, the proceeds from the sale of prints of this artwork will be donated to a Gold Coast charity to help save the Black Swans under threat from many things.
Please help this noble cause and purchase your print today.

Kōkako

An exercise in watercolour wash, pen & ink and designer’s gouache during my studies at Wellington Polytechnic (now Massey University) School Of Design back in the early 1980s.

A New Zealand native bird. Often referred to as ‘The Lone Ranger Bird’ or the ‘New Zealand Crow’.

Māori myth refers to the Kōkako in several stories. In one notable story, a Kōkako gave Māui water as he fought the sun by filling its plump wattles with water and offering it to Māui to quench his thirst. Māui rewarded kōkako for its kindness by stretching its legs until they were lean, long and strong so that Kōkako could easily leap through the forest to find food.

The kōkako appears on the reverse side of the New Zealand $50 note.

Up close and personal with nature once again, this artwork is a mirrored image of the centre of a banksia flower.

Look closely and you will see its two beady eyes staring you down.
Its arms stretched out toward you.
Is it reaching out to embrace you? Or… something else?

Capturing the essence of a seascape in such a simple, child-like expression of line.

The seas are rough and the cloudy skies appear threatening.

There is a storm brewing….

Bushfires are devastating. They seem to destroy almost everything in their path.

But mother nature is strong. She hides away and when the time is right, she emerges again, as strong as ever.

Even in the darkest times, when all seems lost to forces we cannot control, life endures. Springing from the most unexpected places. Love is the same.

When things seem dire and you feel unloved, be assured it is only a matter of time, when love will emerge and grow strong again.

This beautiful image, enhanced, but not manipulated, is a glorious tribute to the power of love and life.

Now, as a personal tribute to those among us who fight the destructive power of fire and, who find themselves exhausted and sometimes lifeless, I would like to show gratitude and support to those men and women. So I will share the proceeds from the sales of this picture and donate them to the rural fire services.

I like to get up close and personal with the world around us and in doing so I discover unexpected beauty, even in the bleakest of conditions

This is a close-up of a piece of sheet metal, shrouded in a cloak of ice crystals.
A tiny pebble sits amongst the chilly carpet, like a miniature hedgehog with crystalline spikes.

The lens flare captured in precisely the right place creates perfect yin-yang symmetry.

I like to get up close and personal with the world around us and in doing so I discover unexpected beauty and charm.

This is a close-up of a tiny sand crab no bigger than a 5c piece.
So cute as he scuttled across the white sand, almost invisible.