Cloudbusting’ is a series of paintings that aim to evoke the sensations of looking up to the forever-shifting sky. I began this series by actively observing the sunrise daily over my local northern NSW hinterland. This repetitive practice led to a habit of noticing the light change and tuning in to the rhythm of the day. Closely observing the landscape lets me really feel time and opens space for contemplation. This well of experience moved into the studio. Paintings began to unfold with the layering of colours, forms and temporal impressions that had been gathered. In my practice I often use paths to express movement in particular environments; here, they have become fatter, loftier and more absorbed within the atmosphere of the painting.

For Jacqueline, painting is a flow state; a contemplative activity where I am absorbed and nothing else seems to matter. The ultimate state of attention. The quiet hum of an inner knowing is somehow generated as I push gooey paint around. This hum is so often overwhelmed in an increasingly digital world and so I try to nurture it. Through my practice I’ve discovered that the landscape is an entry point to an interiority and self-understanding. Painting is the bodily act that reveals this relationship in poetic form.

Perhaps for you, the respected viewer, these paintings may offer up a space. As the artist I’d hope they could invite you to suspend time for a moment, be present and within the painted surface even reminded of something atmospheric, even a glimpse into your own special relationship with a changing sky…

The title is a nod to musician Kate Bush and a track off her 1985 Hounds of Love record, an album that grows on you when you stay with it, a collection of songs that stand alone but as a whole .

This series was a painting installation produced as part of Jacqueline’s 2024 exhibition: ‘Distract/Attend’ at Logan Art Gallery.