Oil on board, 30 x 40 cm (12 x 15.75″) My last painting with Peter Smales 13.11.07

The back of this little oil on board painting says “My last Painting with Peter 13.11.07” I painted it in tandem with artist Peter Smales, my art teacher at the time, in a last creative gesture before leaving Melbourne for the Sunshine Coast. We literally stood before the easel and painted it together.

Australian artist John Perceval painted the very same location in 1956 in wild, stormy conditions. What an amazing evocative painting. The harbour is little changed since then. I witnessed its many moods while visiting my father when he lived on the Rifle Range Estate.

More on John Perceval, and how artists influence each other, in my upcoming blog series, Artists that inspire.

John Perceval, Gannets Diving, 1956