Braving The Storm

As you may know I have been scouring the coastline of Sydney and braving the afternoon storms in the Blue Mountains to find subjects to paint over the past few months! I am excited to tell you that the result is a never-before exhibited body of plein air paintings which I carefully hung on the walls of the delightful heritage listed Braemar Gallery in Springwood on Monday.

I make this sound so easy and smooth sailing, but the 'hanging day' had moments of anxiety mixed with this gathering excitement.

Can you recall a time when you put your heart and soul into a project? Perhaps you wrote a song, built a piece of furniture or designed a new garden. Then you showed someone your efforts and in the few seconds before they responded, you realised with crystal clarity that by investing your unique talents, energy and perspectives in your project, you'd left yourself wide open, vulnerable to criticism.

And that's all there is to it! There is no fix-it or rescue remedy for enduring this uncomfortable storm. Being creative, investing yourself, is risky. On hanging day, while I was excruciatingly aware of this discomfort twisting like a knot in my stomach, 'I gripped tightly to the gunnel and steered my little vessel onwards!'

I'd love you to come and see this new work. Click here for a sneak preview of the show Of Earth and Air and for further information about the show.

Wintry Afternoon, Oil on Board, 40 x 40cm, $485