Narooma lies nearly five hours drive south of Sydney – a fishing village and now summer resort town famous for its oysters.
This painting started as a sketch from the edge of the local Narooma cemetery; a spot that arguably has the best view in town! My feet were literally hanging over the edge of the cliff whilst I drew!
The view features the geologically ancient Glasshouse Rocks, sedimentary rocks laid down around 490 million years ago at the end of the Cambrian period. These rocks were metamorphosed, twisted and uplifted due to tectonic plate collision. The depicted promontory is the edge of the local golf course. The water was truly this blue and the sand this white on this magnificent sunny November day. There were whales travelling north, so naturally if you look closely into the painting you can see a humpback breaching!
Narooma Coastline, Sapphire Coast, 2018, charcoal on paper, 27.5 x 21 cm. En plein-air study for the painting above.