“Time & Tide, Ningaloo”
Rolex have had a long association with deep-sea explorers and their Sea-Dweller, Deepsea and Deepsea Challenge models are ultra-resistant professional divers’ watches that set precision standards for other makers. Launched in 1967, the first Sea-Dweller watch I saw dazzled me with its technical and visual sophistication. I have never dived below 20 metres, so the fact that the latest Deepsea Challenge (released to mark the 2022 descent of James Cameron to the floor of the Mariana Trench) is waterproof to a depth of 11,000 metres astonishes me.
In “Time and Tide, Ningaloo” (above) I have endeavoured to capture that visceral feeling that every swimmer and diver knows as they prepare to submerse themselves in the ocean. Referencing the watch’s complex technology and state-of-the-art exterior, I drew the artwork on a digital graphics tablet and computer, and it was printed by dye-sublimation on high-gloss aluminium.
“Roll Reversal, Karijini”
“Roll Reversal, Karijini” is one of a series depicting technologies that have had a seminal impact upon my life. Back in the day, I enjoyed photographing the gorges of Karijini National Park with a 6×7 roll-film camera. Time and technology march on, and my digital drawing explores contradiction and change. I visualised a contemporary SLR camera capturing light from a billion-year-old gorge. Time-capsules of stone dance in their liquid reflections; bold colour competes with shades of grey; and a silver-halide image on roll-film contrasts with a digital pixel array. The artwork was drawn with a digital stylus on a graphics tablet and printed by dye-sublimation on high gloss aluminium.
“Reverie, Margaret River”
“Reverie, Margaret River” (above) is my digital nod to woodblock printing, such as the beautiful work made in the 17th and 18th Centuries by Japanese artists (such as Katsushika Hokusai) and the German Expressionists. My drawing is of a weir on the Margaret River (in WA’s south-west karri forests) that features a rock “ladder” to assist migrating lampreys reach their spawning grounds up-river. Despite its proximity to a busy town, the waterfall is a serene and meditative place, hushed by the muted roar of the falls. “Reverie” is printed on archival Museo Portfolio Rag and framed under glass.
“Rock Around the Clock v2”
“Rock Around the Clock” was a hit record released in 1954 by American band, Bill Haley and His Comets. Despite being the B-side of the single, its subsequent inclusion on the soundtrack of the 1955 film “Blackboard Jungle” helped it become the best-selling rock single of the 1950s. It galvanised the growth of rock and roll as the music of choice for teenagers across much of the world.
I first heard the song at primary school, and it was a lightbulb moment that led to my teenage interest in popular music. My artwork “Rock Around the Clock v2” (above) portrays Bill Haley’s iconic Gibson Super 400 guitar, along with other notable electric guitars that were developed over following decades by Gibson, Fender, Rickenbacker and PRS. The work was drawn on a digital graphics tablet and computer, and was printed by dye-sublimation on high-gloss aluminium.
“Fading Light, Wyadup”
“Fading Light, Wyadup” is my digital drawing of a rock-face above Wyadup Bay in South-West WA, glowing in the rays of the setting sun.