The Manly Ferry Collaroy


Feeling a little homesick from time to time, which I think is pretty normal. So I thought I'd post a painting I've been working on of the Manly Ferry, the Freshwater Class Collaroy to be precise.

There is something very romantic about Sydney's Ferries, particularly the Manly Ferry for people like me who come from the wonderful suburb which splits the harbour and the ocean. Port Jackson is one of the most beautiful harbours in the world and the daily commute is less of a chore for the folks who make it every day.

I spent a chunk of the 1990's catching the ferry nearly every day and miss the serenity of it... The drumming of the diesels and the bow carving through the water is almost meditative. A good book, your feet up on the rail... Once upon a time a bloke could enjoy a quiet beer on a Friday afternoon as well... I think that's gone the way of the dinosaur thanks to uptight PC'ism and idiot drunks sadly.

And the sight of Manly Cove itself, with it's Norfolk Pines, pleasure boats moored, and the old ferris wheel (and way before that the Fun Pier), and the crowd at the Wharf Bar enjoying the evening as the boat pulls into Manly Wharf...

It's one of the best feelings in the world; it feels like you have come home.


I felt for a long time like I really hadn't finished this painting; like it was unresolved... But now I look at it, probably feeling a little sentimental, and I quite like the messy, gestural nature of much of it. The water, chopped like the wake of another boat, the masts of the Ferry loosely described, the bald canvas around the smokestack... I really like it.

"An intellectual says a simple thing in a complicated way. An artist says a complicated thing in a simple way."
Charles Bukowski

I've always liked Bukowski's writings and I like the sentiment here: you can say a lot with a little brush stroke, and If I was to model the entire boat like a photographic record, it would be kind of boring and static. Sometimes good things happen by accident, and compositions can be ruined by overworking.

For a few weeks there I felt like the sky needed a few clouds in it; but then again, I seldom recall the cloudy days and choose to remember the sunny blue sky days...

And I hope you'll forgive me - as beautiful an area as it is - when I think of my home I tend to look through rose coloured glasses, and imagine the sun is always shining on Manly...

Jewellery Sketches





It seems like all I post is old stuff but I found these old sketches from when I trained as a jeweler and thought they were really nice...

Oldie but a goodie...


Found an old cartoon of some fellers I worked with about ten years ago. I was between degrees and it was an unskilled health care job. Clearly it's a Simpsons style of the blokes I worked with and lacks the impact it would have on people who knew them. I was told by my colleagues it was pretty much spot-on... I believe a couple of them still work there which is astounding to me. Feels like a lifetime ago..!

Ethiopia Stella




Last year my lovely fiend Mandy Shannon passed away from Pancreatic Cancer. She was a beautiful person who loved life and touched so many people with her exuberance, sense of humour and love of other people.

Mandy was a Registered Nurse who for much of her career cared for so many sick people - many terminally ill - and devoted so much of her life to caring for others…

She left behind Tim her husband, and daughters Eva, and Stella (who was in-utero when she became ill), as well as Kiarra Tim’s daughter (& proud big sister). Stella is a miracle and very much the star her namesake suggests.

In January I was asked by some of her friends to produce some paintings to be auctioned and raffled at a benefit night for Tim and the girls. Of course I jumped at the chance to contribute.

Gerberas were Mandy’s favorite flowers & I felt that was what we needed; flowers kind of echo the shape of the sun in a child’s mind and we all know how they respond to the sun - which is our own star – just like Stella is to Tim, Eva, Kiarra and all their family & friends...

So if anyone is available please pop along to the Shining Star Benefit Night at North Sydney Leagues Club in Cammeray - it will be certain to be a wonderful evening for a wonderful cause.

See link below (please cut & paste into your browser)

http://www.norths.com.au/ContentFiles/NorthsLeagues/Documents/SHINING_STAR_2011[1]%20Updated.pdf



BTW Ethiopia means 'Shining' in latin... Interesting...

Wez Wally


Commission for friends...

Only the names have been changed to protect the guilty.

The less I know the better…

Tyrone Jenkins & Chet


A little illustration done for a pal of mine – unsure of the purposes but I suspect it’s for he and his partner in crime to manipulate events to cause trouble for other people for their own amusement…

Good luck to them I say; life’s to short to take everything too seriously…