At the end of 2009 i was fortunate enough for my partner and i to have traveled the south of India going around the coastal places and basically just witnessing India.  this was to be the first travels out of the country. The culture of India has always inspired me. the food, the people the music – i have been a  huge fan of Indian musical instruments especially the sitar the Indian guitar, i have had a huge interest in the traditional Indian music.

Especially musicians like   Ali Akbar Khan   Ravi Shankar

With this body of work i wanted to work with the softer nuances involved with the painting. I found India to be so full of colour and richness that i think this is what drawn me more to use colour with this series of work.  Instead of working purely with the brash and bold intensity normally i work with i decided to work the opposite and that is to drop out some of that intensity to create a level of tranquility

One thing that struck me while there was how magical the landscape could be when you got out of the heavier built up areas, the big tropical continual lakes, the lush green, the unique transformations of the hills.  i Found it really striking to be able compare the two, the Australian Landscape and the Indian the differences but also the similarities.one example driving in a car going to a larger city i was looking out the window pondering the landscape when i saw an Australian gum tree. little did i realise that they grow in the south of India!

I wanted to provide a picture or a glimpse into the trip that we had by showing the works as well as a selection of the images that came from the journey.

A Madurai street, never realised up to now that the electricity  pole was held there by those slabs of rock placed around it!

Another Madurai street early morning about 6am, i like the early hours and India is one of those places to see earlier in the morning as it just captivates this wondrous light.

below: In the french quarters a stately home in Pondicherry