Huangshan, pandas and whales

"Turning his Back on all Earthly Desires"  136 x 205 cm. oil on canvas. 2010

Panda (as Buddah)

Rainbow (detail)

"Dreamtime Encounter with a Whale" 136 x 205 cm.oil on canvas. 2009

close-up of whale and boats

close-up of island

"Turning his back on all Earthly Desires" is a painting influenced by my travels in China in 2008. I had originally planned on taking the train from Beijing to Lhasa in Tibet. The 3,750 km trip covers 1,110 km over the world's highest Qinghai-Tibet railway. I had booked the ticket for the 12th May 2008. I was very excited, only to have my dream shattered as during this time there had been riots in Tibet which had started as anti-Chinese protests (in the run up to the Olympics in Beijing) which then turned to violence and hence Tibet closed its borders to all press and travellers. In hindsight, the riots and consequent ban of entry to Tibet saved my life as my train ticket was booked on the day of the devastating Chinese earthquake in the Sichuan province killing 70,000 people and leaving 18,000 missing.

My reasons for visiting Tibet had been totally fuelled by the desire to immerse myself in the beautiful, wild landscape of this amazing country and actually feel as though I was inside one of my paintings. So I was left slightly devastated, but there was still China to explore and I headed to the Yellow Mountains(Huangshan) - a famous mountain range in the Anhui province, enlisted as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1990.  It has been the frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and poetry,  and it's not difficult to understand why. This landscape had me feeling like I had arrived in Nirvana, it is breathtakingly beautiful and serene with hundreds of peaks and thousands of ravines. It is like being in a magical fairyland....the painting captures this feeling, with endless peaks, clouds and waterfalls. I wanted to celebrate this magnificent landscape and who better to overlook the composition but the laughing Buddha himself. You can spot him in the far top left of the painting, disguised as a rock...infact he appeared quite mysteriously without any intention on my part. The giant panda, on the other hand being a symbol of China, was a deliberate comment on how the effect of industrialization and growth continues to endanger this beloved creature. Believed to have come into this world over 600,000 years ago, now only about 1,000 pandas are left in the wild in reserves set aside by the government. Adding to the cost of their homes, poachers have killed off thousands and continue to do so as the price of panda fur rises (a panda hide can fetch up to $200,000 in Japan). As their population in the wild continues to decrease, these wonderful mammals may not have much time left which is very saddening and perhaps another negative symbol of the old world versus the new. On a happier note, can you spot the rainbows in the painting? There are two and they were very tricky to paint!


"Dreamtime Encounter with a Whale" was again influenced by my trip to China. It was actually inspired by a dream I had. In the dream, I was in a boat, quite close to the shore of a big city (perhaps one in China). I looked over towards another, bigger boat and thought, "hmmm, I'd rather be on that boat" (is the grass greener?), so without giving it much thought I jumped out of mine and dived into the ocean only to come face to face with a colossal whale. It was an absolutely lucid encounter, and quite unforgettable. I swam the length of the whale and then we looked into each others eyes, it was very profound. I was very upset to see that the whale had red eyes, as if he/she was suffering in some way, or perhaps giving me a warning? In hindsight I think the whale had swam inland too far and was in danger. I will never forget this encounter, it was a truly fantastical experience.