Robert Malherbe Blackheath landscape

I’m lucky in that I have two studios – one in the Blue Mountains, where I live, and another in East Sydney. I refuse to paint from photographs because I like to be surprised, which is why I always paint from life.

Blackheath landscape was painted on site on a still chilly afternoon late in August.

This image took about three hours to complete. Quite often the work ends in failure. I’ve painted this small area of land, near a skate park and highway, many, many times but each time I walk past it I find there’s still more to see.

Robert Malherbe, 2012