Artist statement

I was born in Bergen, Norway, and I lived in England and New Zealand before coming to Australia in 1983.

For the last ten years I have painted the landscape of the northern part of the ACT where I live. I love the changing mood of the hills, varying from morning to evening, from season to season; I find the bareness of the shapes and the colours a continuing inspiration to try to catch. Not the exact scene, but how this country makes me feel and at times how the colours and shapes correspond to how I feel.

For the last few years the drought has added to the sometimes intense atmosphere.
I feel almost guilty when I study the landscape which to a farmer must bring despair, whereas to me is thrilling as the colours become so intense and the whole landscape so harsh and yet so beautiful.

By working with the same landscapes for a number of years I have become very familiar with details- the curves and colours of the hills and trees. It has become possible to distil and extract what for me makes the Belconnen landscape fascinating.
I would like people who look at my paintings to think, “ Yes, that is how it feels”, rather than   “ That is how it looks”.

I am trying to evoke the soul of the landscape, the essence, a kind of visual poetry.