MOONLIGHT SWIM

Pictured top: Moonlight Swim, acrylic on canvas. (Progress view). From the current suite of works provisionally titled Flowers of the Femmes Fatales. 

In this instance, the flower associated with my protagonist, namely a water lily, appears as a stylised motif on her bathing cap. Its design was adapted from a vintage knitting pattern that was sourced online. (See below). 

On my morning walks by the Yarra River in Melbourne I pass a similar ‘No Swimming’ sign to the one portrayed in the painting. 

Directly below are a series of developmental views of Moonlight Swim.

The work is a descendent of two early works (pictured below), both of which share similar iconography: The Third Time, 1995, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm (collection: the artist) and Not Drowning, 1996, oil pastel, 160 x 120 cm. (Collection Grafton Regional Gallery, NSW. Acquired through the Jacaranda Drawing Award 1996).

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2026

On International Women’s Day 2026, here’s to the notorious Femmes Fatales of Film Noir, who never did care for the rules and weren’t afraid to break them. 

Pictured: Deborah Klein, Lady of the Camellias, 2026, acrylic on linen, from the Flowers of the Femmes Fatales series. 

The ace of hearts is high

I’m not usually one for Valentine’s Day, but by sheer coincidence, this is the painting that’s currently on my table easel. Pictured top: The ace of hearts is high, acrylic on canvas (work in progress).

While I’m here, Happy Valentine’s Day to my two loves, Shane Jones and Alice B. Cat (pictured below) and to all of you Valentines out there. ♥️

The music and lyrics of popular songs (particularly, but by no means exclusively, from the Great American Songbook), occasionally inform my work. In this instance, the title of my painting is a line from Taking a chance on love (music: Vernon Duke lyrics: John La Touche and Ted Fetter). The song originated in the stage musical Cabin in the Sky (1940), where it was introduced by the incomparable Ethel Waters. Waters later performed the song in the MGM film of the musical (Dir. Vincente Minnelli, 1943). It has since become a standard and has been widely performed, but in my opinion, no one, but no one, sings it like Ethel Waters. To see her version of Taking a chance on love, click HERE. (Apologies for the YouTube ads that precede it).

The lyric is below:

TAKING A CHANCE ON LOVE

Here I go again

I hear those trumpets blow again

All aglow again

Taking a chance on love

Here I slide again

About to take that ride again

Starry-eyed again

Taking a chance on love

I thought that cards were a frame-up

I never would try

But now I'm taking the game up

And the ace of hearts is high

Things are mending now

I see a rainbow blending now

We'll have a happy ending now

Taking a chance on love

Here I come again

I'm gonna make things hum again

Acting dumb again

Taking a chance on love

Here I stand again

About to beat the band again

Feeling grand again

Taking a chance on love

I walk around with a horseshoe

In clover I lie

And, brother rabbit, of course you

Better kiss your foot goodbye

Things are mending now

I see a rainbow blending now

We'll have a happy ending now

Taking a chance, taking a chance

Taking a chance on love. 

♥️

Directly below are a series of earlier progress views of The ace of hearts is high: