Sheep’s eye view of Bruny and the Channel from the back paddock

28cmx36cm acrylics on birch panel 2022 Private collection

Sheep in this particular paddock at Woodbridge in southern Tasmania share an extremely familiar view with everybody who runs up and down Pullens Road. Nestled above the D’Entrecasteaux Channel with Bruny Island on the far side, you’ll see a cluster of elderly yellow farm buildings including a small shearing shed, tanks and fences, and a portable sheep race standing out in the paddock.

The deep resonance with this part of Tasmania which led me to make it my home partly stems from the similarity in the angle and quality of light here to the part of Canada where I spent my childhood, and to the Channel and Bruny Island echoing the Ottawa River with low Gatineau Hills on the other side.

This painting reflects the moods and movement of pasture, water, and sky, rendered with not-far-from a storybook texture, a nod to the prolific storyteller whose property it is and the tales with which he recreates the village in its other days. The painting also reflects my great affection for this corner of Tasmania.

Incidentally, if you are wondering why you can’t see any sheep, it’s because I made the painting when they were busy elsewhere.