On a day in 2003 I drove to Lake Tekapo in search of peace and found inspiration. I hadn't painted a major landscape in three years following my daughter Tessa being diagnosed with cancer. My intention was to drive down Halden Road to one of my favourite spots to photograph the sun setting over the Dalgety Range in the heart of the Mackenzie Basin.

It couldn't have been more perfect! Imagine, stepping out of a car after a three-and-a-half hour drive into a silent, serene landscape. I watched the bright orange sky merge to pinky salmon and finally a magentery purple... then I saw my car for the first time... etched against a backdrop of lake, mountains and sublime colour--a relevant component in a perfect painting...

"Falcon down Haldon Road" was a strange cathartic experience in an attempt to recapture a romance lost. Cars have featured in my paintings since the late nineties. As signwriters to the theatres free access to such movies as Easy Rider, Two-Lane Blacktop, Vanishing Point and Zabriskie Point were influential. My mates and I regularly travelling at weekends to unspecified destinations in search of adventure... just like in the movies.

My relationship with the road is complex! Whilst there's little left to discover there's always that sense of adventure... around the next bend. These paintings are a reconstruction of my experience. Hopefully, through my work the viewers may rediscover their own experiences.