Bay of Fires

The Bay of Fires is located close to St Helen's on the North East coast of Tasmania. It was named by Captain Tobias Furneaux in 1773 because he noticed numerous fires along the coast, They where the fires of the local Indigenous population. Furneaux, was a British navigator and navy officer who accompanied Cook on his second exploration of the area. He was the first man to circumnavigate the world in both directions. He drew the earliest European maps of Tasmania, during 1773-1774, Many of the names of places on that map survive to the current day. The Bay of Fires being one of them ! Recently The Bay of Fires was voted the second most beautiful beach in the world in The Lonely Planet Guide. It has been one of Austalia's best kept secrets, where tourists have enjoyed almost deserted beaches, of pure white sand and transluscent aquamarine water, set against a backdrop of orange hued granite boulders

Nighthawks: Edward Hopper

Nighthawks,1942: Edward Hopper, currently exhibited at The Art Institute of Chicago

The Bar, 1954, John Bracks, privately owned, Australia. It last sold at auction for 3.2 million !

Nighthawks is one of the most iconic paintings of the modern era. It is based on a diner in Greenwich Village, where Edward Hopper lived at the time. Hopper was fascinated with urban scenes. The sharp lines and empty city streets, convey a sense of isolation that can sometimes be felt in big cities. There is also a sense of menace of danger lurking in the shadows. The other painting The Bar was painted in Melbourne by local artist; John Bracks twelve years after Nighthawks. The contrast, in detail, between the woman in the foreground and the faceless men in the background suggest that they are disconnected. The figures all have sharp angular features making them appear hard and calculating. Both artists depicted the turmoil which characterized society in the aftermath of The Second World War.

Woman seated in chair at Cooktown, Queensland, Australia, 1885
Thats pretty hardcore, wearing that in the Tropics. What where they thinking?

Cy Twombly

Cy Twombly was voted onto the international best dressed list in Vanity Fair Magazine, August,2009

'Three Studies from The Tremeraire' 1999, can be viewed at the art gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Cy Twombly is an American artist born in 1928, His works are abstract and impressionistic, with an emphases on line and composition. His paintings are enormous, The above paintings where purchased by the Art Gallery of N.S.W in November 2004, for a multi million dollar price tag

Rock Lighthouses

Above, Wolf Rock Lighthouse, 8 Miles Of the coast at lands end Cornwall, completed 1870

Above and below Bishops Rock Lighthouse, of the coast of The Isle of Scilly in Scotland, completed 1858

Don't you just love Rock Lighthouses ! predominately built during the eighteen hundreds on the isolated rocky outcrops which surround Great Britian. Bell Rock Lighthouse (not pictured) is one of the earliest examples, completed in 1811; it is considered one of The Seven wonders of the Industrial World. These structures have stood the test of time, I wonder if off shore structures built today such as oil riggs and beacons will do so well, I doubt it !

Frederick Douglass, born 1818, Talbot County, Maryland, U.S.A

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland in The U.S.A,in 1818. At the time it was illegal to teach slaves to read and write, as it was observed that this made them more inclined to question their position. Frederick taught himself to read and write covertly, by watching the local white kids doing so. In 1838, he managed to escape his owner and fled on a train to Massachusetts and joined the abolitionist movement.

Frederick became a popular anti-slavery lecturer and published an autobiography Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglas, an American Slave in 1845. The book was an instant best seller, and revealed Douglass to be a deeply gifted communicator, demonstrated by his eloquent style of expression. In fact he was so good people questioned whether his story was true.

Fearing the publicity surrounding his literacy success would alert his owner to his whereabouts, Frederick toured Ireland and it was during this time his supporters bought him from his owners and he officially became a free man. He returned to The U.S.A in 1948 and became a very important political figure, holding many government committee positions, advocating fair treatment for African Americans. Frederick was also a supporter of the women sufferage movement famously stating he could not accept the right to vote as a black man if a woman did not get to do so.

Frederick was married twice, his second marriage to Helen Pitts a well known white feminist (pictured, sitting down, her sister Eva is standing up) caused a scandal not only because she was white, but because she was 25 years younger. frederick ultimately became a wealthy man and lived a comfortable life, but continued to advocate for the rights of others until his death on Feburary 20, 1895.

A truly inspiring man. Read his autobiography its an amazing insight into the life of an extroadinary man. Its a first hand account of the cruelty suffered by slaves and their fight for not only freedom, but dignity and respect.

Contemporary Australian Landscape Paintings