Professor Gordon Parker AO

Professor Parker is one Australia’s most highly respected Psychiatrists and is the Founder/Director of the black  Dog Institute , associated with the University of NSW,  that conducts research into and treatment of Depression, Bipolar and Mood Disorders.

The portrait was commissioned by the Black Dog Institute through a generous donation by Mr Albert Hunt & family.

My next commission is a retrospective double portrait where one of the pair died 9 years ago so the subjects will be portrayed as they would have appeared 11 years ago.

This a good challenge for a portrait painter and I am looking forward to it but I know it will present quite a few difficulties and will mess with my mind …… I may need to consult Professor Parker before it is finished.

“The Artist’s Fate” was announced as the winner of the Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW on 15/04/2011.
The Archibald Prize and the Wynne Prize are judged by the trustees of the Art Gallery of NSW and the Sulman Prize by an independent judge and this year it was Queensland artist Richard Bell.
There were 633 entries in this year’s Sulman Prize and and with that number and the high  quality of the finalists you have to be very lucky to win and I consider myself extremely fortunate.
I hope the publicity generated by this prize will increase the interest in my work generally but  I suspect it won’t do much for my portrait commissions.

“The Artists Fate”, a painting in my nightmare series has been selected as a finalist in the Sulman Prize (subject/genre paintings & murals) which along with the Wynne Prize (Landscape and Sculpture) is showing with The Archibald Prize (Portraits) at the Art Gallery of NSW.
This painting could be about the artist’s death or it could simply be a “literal translation in paint” of how an artist feels when rejected by, judges in an art prize, a client, a dealer or a gallery. Of course almost everyone suffers from some form of rejection at various stages in their life and most are much more significant than a self absorbed artist’s feelings of disappointment. For example, the end of a relationship or termination of employment can generate massive feelings of rejection and this painting endeavours to show the pain of this emotion in pictorial form rather than in words.

Rejection feels like:    it has cost an arm and a leg
being poked in the eye with a sharp stick
being emasculated
having your heart ripped out
and being left completely gutted!

This Icon of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop
was created to celebrate the canonisation of
Australia’s first Catholic Saint.

Mary, with Father Woods, founded the Josephite
Order of Nuns dedicated to educating all children
regardless of their social class, colour or
financial situation and to provide spiritual and
practical help for the poor and needy.

If this image meets with general approval, a
limited edition print will be produced.

This Icon, Our Lady of Vladimir Icon and my
Evolutionary Trinity Icon can be viewed in the
Figurative  Gallery on this website.

My painting of “Nelson Salesi protecting his Artworks” was awarded the Unpacker’s Prize at this years Mortimore Prize and fortunately, unlike the Packer’s Prize at the Archibald, it was not the kiss of death and the painting went on to win the overall Best in Show.

The Mortimore is a competition for realist artworks in seven categories …..drawing, portrait, landscape, waterscape, still life, small works and sculpture. It is now considered one of the major art prizes in the Australian Art Calendar and with total prizemoney  of $40,000 it is attracting many of Australia’s best artists and I regard myself as extremely lucky to win in such a strong field.

A portrait of our daughter Alexandra has been selected as                               

a finalist in the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award.

The conditions of the prize state that the portrait must be

a true, realistic representation of the subject and entry is

by a photograph of the painting plus a photograph of the

subject for comparison.

The award attracts many of Australia’s top professional

portrait painters and this year there are two Archibald

winners and 10 multi- Archibald and Doug Moran

finalists  in the 34 artists selected.

Alexandra 2010            Oil   100x75cm

My portrait of Peter FitzSimons, Author, Ex-Wallaby, Sports Journalist and Broadcaster has been selected as a finalist in the 2010 Archibald Prize along with 33 others in a field of 849 entries.

The painting shows the Author seated in his front garden with his dog Burkey.

My aim was to convey Fitzy’s mass ( he is 2 metres tall and solidly built), to capture the “don’t mess with me look in his eyes” and to also display his gentler side by including his dog.

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