Margaret River Vineyard Paintings

It’s winter, the rains have fallen and the grass is all greened up. The Cape Daisies are out.

We can see that it is late autumn in the Margaret River vineyards. The leaves are changing colour and the pastures have turned green. The line of trees is the Bussell Highway.

This is a scene at about six or seven in the evening. Caves Road is that line of trees. I remember that particular twilight. The view had just got better and better so I couldn’t bring myself to leave. The owner was a lovely man who was happy to let me stay until the light went. Then he generously gave me a lift down to the gate with all my gear.

These vines are near where Wildwood Road joins Caves Road. Caves Road is down the bottom of the valley out of sight. This is summertime in a Margaret River vineyard.

We are standing in the vineyard at about six o’clock on a late afternoon in summer. This is the second dam down from the top in a series of five. The sunset is still over an hour away and it’s still and hot.

We can see Harmans Mill Road running off on the left of the picture. Caves Road is behind us and it’s running up into the wooded area that lies east of Caves Road on the ridges above.You can see some smoke from the burning off of vine trimmings.

We are standing on the northern boundary of a Margaret River winery. There’s a big stand of Jarrah trees in the distance. We are looking east as the moon rises in the late evening.

This is a painting about the business of picking the grapes and working in the vineyard. You’ll notice the tractor in the background on this stunning summers day.

One day I was painting in the vineyards and I spotted some secateurs. They’d been left behind on a post. I was suddenly so impressed that all these vines were hand pruned. What an extraordinary labour of love.

On the other side of that pasture is Wildwood Road. That stand of trees is one of my favourite places to paint the vineyards of Margaret River.

These are vineyards near Dunsborough. The ocean is just over the other side of those Marri’s. I didn’t pay much attention to the name of the place because I was so delighted by the colours of the Marri’s and vines.

It’s dawn and we are standing at the gate of a vineyard on Caves Road, looking at the middle ridge. That far ridge is where Wildwood Road is.

This is a very recognisable sort of view you’ll see in the vineyards down at Margaret River. We are looking down across the valley to Wildwood Road. The road is hidden behind those trees in the middle. There’s a vastness to the valley and the sky.

We are standing in the dawn light looking east from the vineyard.

We are looking at Harmans Mill Road around midday in high summer. You can see I’m very taken by the vivid blue sky and the bright light.

It is late afternoon in the Margaret River summer. We are looking at the view of Caves Road and the vineyards on a hot day.

This painting is about the experience of looking into a blaze of colour. The detail of what is around you recedes because the light is intense. We are looking at the late summer sun in the afternoon. Those pompom plants are providing golden reflected light.