In contrast to a fast world demanding instant gratification, the Series Home Grown celebrates the joy of planting, harvesting and eating the produce of your own hands. These are paintings inspired by the Artist’s garden. Slow down, immerse yourself in the soil and the changing seasons, it’s good for the soul.

Today, in Australia, we can eat almost any fresh fruit or vegetable regardless of the season, many varieties are imported to our shops from lands far, far away. With refrigeration and efficient transport there is no longer the need to store, dry, pickle, salt, bottle or grow our own food.

Yet the connection to the land and pleasure derived from growing your own is unbeatable. From the just over one-acre block surrounding the Artist’s home in Tasmania’s Huon Valley produce taken into the house, whether edible or as floral decoration, has been painted from life as intimate works combined with the trappings of home life, or with glimpses through windows to the garden beyond. A garden is an extension of you and your home. Whether in a single pot or on acreage, growing and nurturing life expands your world. The taste is sweeter and the satisfaction greater at every meal.

Not for you the anonymous supermarket flowers, fruit and vegetables, but those carefully chosen by you from seed or seedling, nurtured into life, protected from predators and blight and harvested straight into your kitchen or carefully arranged in a vase. You know where they came from and how they were grown. You can choose varieties not mass produced and can grow free from chemicals. You can make a difference by keeping heritage varieties alive.

In a world of increasing financial, climate and food insecurity there is also a sense of safety and self-reliance looking at your own produce growing or stored in larder and freezer.

What better way to start your day than to let the chickens out, collect eggs and watch for every bud and burst of new life?

Artist Statement