Revisiting Patagonia

It's been three years since I explored the beautiful, haunting wildernesses of Patagonia, Chile during my honeymoon. A lot has happened since then: a global pandemic and a baby to name just a few of the major events. But no matter where else I travel or where this new phase in life takes me, painting...

Why Beautiful Places Are The Hardest To Paint

There's a moment in every painting when you have a choice. A choice to carry on or move on. You’ve put in hours of thought, sketches, colour studies, and laid out the first marks on the canvas. You’re now fully invested in the painting in front of you, but for some reason, something just isn’t...

Photo Blog: Wildlife of Chile and Patagonia

It's World Wildlife Day, a day that fills me with joy and where I dig out all my favourite Attenborough documentaries. The natural world is extraordinary seen through the lens of a film camera, but it's even more extraordinary when you can witness it first hand. Having been to plenty of zoos and wildlife parks...

Cosmic Thoughts – Strange Worlds

Looking out over the vast expand of flat flood-plain, you’d be forgiven for thinking that someone had turned the colours off. Grey, stretching in all directions like spilled ashes. The ground is a vast expanse of charcoal, permeated by a fine dusting of frost that just occasionally catches in the light as it tries to...

Finding Darwin

“The climate is certainly wretched: the summer solstice was now passed, yet every day snow fell on the hills, and in the valleys there was rain, accompanied by sleet. From the damp and boisterous state of the atmosphere, not cheered by a gleam of sunshine, one fancied the climate even worse than it really was.”...

Couples Travel: The Artist And Writer

Different creative types travel differently. A  photographer might need to stop at very bridge and cathedral, a performer might need to visit the opera or the theatre. If you’re a foodie blogger, then of course you need eateries. This week’s post is a little different, as this is a joint blog post written by myself...

The Inspiration of Mountains

Painting what you love can be the easiest and hardest thing in the world. My paintings are more often than not inspired by great landscapes in far-flung corners of the world, or foreign species far from home. So it can often be hard to get true inspiration, that is not from a photo or a...

The Story Of Santiago’s Street Dogs

"If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere." ~ Vincent Van Gogh Wherever I go, whether it's wandering though the urban jungle, treading through a deserted car park at night or even just in my own backyard, I'm always on the lookout for nature, and often, it seems to find me. Recently in...

On Anthony Bourdain and Food

“If I'm in Rome for only 48 hours, I would consider it a sin against God to not eat cacio e pepe, the most uniquely Roman of pastas, in some crummy little joint where Romans eat. I'd much rather do that than go to the Vatican. That's Rome to me.” - Anthony Bourdain, 1956 –...

Art Diaries: Chilean Wildlife

Today I decided to do some quick and loose sketches of Chilean wildlife from my trip. Sketching in watercolour is great fun: it loosens up the wrists and allows you to create a quick impression of what it is your painting. There were several amazing wildlife spots that we stumbled upon. Of course, if you...