A Sense of Place

Ice Wall

With a degree of artist's licence, this pastel painting derives from photos that I took in 1977 on a trek to Everest Base Camp.

Original
Charcoal & Pastel
70cm x 50cm

Pumori Appears

Pumori is a 7,160m (23,500ft) Himalayan peak some 8km west of Everest. With a degree of artist's licence, this pastel painting derives from photographs that I took on a trek to Everest base camp in 1977.

Original
Pastel on Paper
50cm x 70cm

Everest Beckons

Pastel painting of the Himalayas looking towards Mt Everest. Derives from photos that I took on a trek to Everest Base Camp in 1977.

Original
Pastel
60cm x 80cm

Arabian Sands

Arabian Sands – this is the title of Wilfred Thesiger’s account of his exploration of the Rub’ al Khali (the Empty Quarter encompassing parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman and the then Trucial States) between 1945 and 1950. This also happens to be when initial oil exploration first commenced in this part of the world.

In 1971 the Trucial States became the United Arab Emirates and in 1976 I was assigned my first overseas posting as a young surveyor working for BP to stake out the locations of future oil wells for the Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company. Within a few weeks of arrival I encountered this Bedouin family camped out not too far from one of the oil fields and experienced the hospitality that Thesiger describes in his account.

I undertook this pastel painting recently working from photos that I had taken back in 1976.

Original
Pastel
50cm x 70cm

We have water and beer

Around the outskirts of the Brazilian town of Paraty (see Rua de Praia) there are numerous bars come convenience stores such as this one located close to where I was staying.

Original
Pastel & Ink
30cm x 40cm

£275.00
Can be seen at Glasgow Art Club

Rua da Praia

The Brazilian port town of Paraty developed first as a port to ship gold during Brazil’s 18th century gold rush and thence subsequently coffee and sugar until the building of a railway at the end of the 19th century allowed growers to transport directly to Rio de Janeiro. The town then became isolated until connected by a paved road during the 1970s. Today it is an architectural gem which became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2004. Rua de Praia is one of its preserved cobbled streets.

Original
Pastel on Paper
30cm x 40cm

£275.00 Framed
Can be seen at Glasgow Art Club

Casa Turquesa

A turquoise house located approximately 10km inland from the Brazilian town of Paraty (see Rua de Praia) on the banks of one of the rivers that tumble down through heavily forested mountains.

Pastel & Ink
40cm x 30cm

Ilha Grande Morning Light

This is a 200 km2 island located in relatively sheltered waters of Brazils’s Costa Verde to the west of Rio de Janeiro. A former penal colony which is now a ‘getaway from it all’ destination for travellers seeking to escape from rather more frenetic Brazilian beaches.

Original
Pastel on Paper
42cm x 60cm
Can be seen at Glasgow Art Club

Friend or Foe

During the 18th century, Brazil’s gold rush centered on the town of Ouro Preto. For a time gold mined from this area was transported overland to the town of Paraty and thence by sea to Portugal via Rio de Janeiro. Aided by the many coves and islands between Paraty and Rio de Janeiro, shipments were inevitably subject to piracy.
Today these same waters are being used by ocean going yachts to smuggle cocaine originating from Columbia, Bolivia and Paraguay to Europe.

Pastel
42cm x 60cm

£450.00
Can be seen at Glasgow Art Club

Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Dores

Original
Pastel on Paper
40cm x 56cm

The Rolling Hills of Bocaina

Original
Pastel on Paper
40cm x 60cm

£450.00

The Winnowers

Original
Pastel
60cm x 42cm

£500.00

Dead Vlei

I made a trip to Namibia in 2005, this painting is derived from a number of different photos that I firstly transcribed into a layout sketch. It seeks to depict the stark beauty of the dead acacia trees, some still standing and some now fallen in the Dead Vlei salt pan near Sossulvlei. The view is enhanced by the perfect curves of the salmon coloured dunes in the background. Pastel and acrylic original.

Original
Pastel on Paper
56cm x 76cm

Naukluft Homestead

This is another scene from Namibia part actual, part imagined capturing the sharp light and the essence of the homestead on the edge of the Naukluft Mountains.

Open Edition
Pastel on Paper
46cm x 68cm

Khayelitsha

Open Edition
Pastel on Paper
46cm x 66cm

Drakensberg Mist

Original
Pastel
40cm x 30cm

Drakensberg Ampitheatre

I painted this panoramic view of South Africa's fabled Amphitheatre from Surprise Ridge in July 2008 capturing the late afternoon winter shadows. Sketched on location, transferred to a large canvas back in the studio.

Original
Oil on canvas
55cm x 136cm

Ait Benahaddou

View of the Ait Benahaddou Kasbah southern flanks of the Atlas Mountains Morocco, painted mainly on location, completed in studio.

Original
Pastel on Paper
37cm x 54cm

Ait Benahaddou Morning Chores

This is the eastern entrance to the kasbah of Ait Benahaddou, Morocco. I set my easel up just after 7am and produced a layout sketch capturing some of the activity occurring at that time of morning. Painting completed in studio. Pastel and acrlylic original

Original
Pastel on Paper
55cm x 39cm

Akha Mother and Baby

the Akha are an indigenous hill tribe who inhabit the border region straddling the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, an area sometimes labeled the ‘Golden Triangle’ that has been associated with the growing of opium. This painting derives from a photo that I took in 1978 on a trek between tribal villages.

Original
Oil on Board
50cm x 40cm

£275.00
Can be seen at Glasgow Art Club

Awesome

Stepping out onto the edge of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Original
Pastel on Board
55cm x 75cm

Darling Range Rock Pool

Small creek flowing through the granite boulders of John Forrest National Park Western Australia

Original
Pastel on Paper
35cm x 47cm

Falconer

Original
Oil on canvas
40cm x 50cm

Father & Son

This painting is derived from a photo that I took while I was working in the United Arab Emireates during the 1970s. The father and son were guests to a mansaaf feast in a small palm frond hut in the Liwa Oases located close to the Saudia Arabian border.

Original
Acrylic on canvas
50cm x 37cm

Fever Tree

The fever tree, a distinctive land mark in the Southern end of the Kruger Park

Pastel on Paper
30cm x 40cm

Greenspool

Contemplating the Southern Ocean South West Australia

Limited Edition
Pastel
54cm x 105cm

Liwa Watch Tower

Open Edition
Oil on Linen
50cm x 35cm

Marrakech Medina

Derb El Halfaoui in the old medina of Marrakech, painted mainly on location with a little assitance from the kids!

Original
Pastel on Paper
55cm x 37cm

Once Upon a Time in Baluchistan

Pastel
70cm x 50cm

One Morning in Sind

Pastel
70cm x 50cm

Sherpali Girls

I painted this picture from a photograph that I took in 1977 on a trek to Everest Base Camp. It was early morning and there had been a frost the night before, the three bare foot girls were curiously viewing the Western trekkers emerging from their tents.

Original
Pastel on Paper
66cm x 45cm

The Mcel Connection

Near Inhambane Mozambique

Original
Pastel on Paper
37cm x 46cm

Tofu Beach

near Inhambane, Mozambique

Original
Pastel on Paper
29cm x 39cm

Tranquility

Original
Pastel on Paper
40cm x 30cm