Artist's Statement

I've been busy writing up my artists statement which is intended to give anyone who visits an idea of what motivates me to paint and print. It's more of an extended profile which didn't come easily as in a sense you need to lay yourself bare to your audience if you want them to understand what you're all about and is just as much to do with building resilience. This will eventually appear on various artists network and support sites including Axis and a-n.co.uk .....It would be good to know what you think.....passers by, practitioners, anyone.....

My paintings are based on the physical world - whether it’s a landscape or figurative source I will always begin the creative process with a tangible reference point. Responding to a landscape that moves me, interpreting the dynamism created by human interaction or reflecting the excitement of optimism in what I see are among the challenges that I seek to address. The physical process of painting is vital to me. Life, light, vibrancy and movement can rarely be captured using an easel. Therefore my canvases lie directly on the floor while I apply layers of colour. Once each layer is dry I then dilute, scrape back and smear to control the relationship of each brush mark and layer with that of the underlying colour. A vermillion could look stunning against a royal blue if the transparency, viscosity and direction of each colour is correct. I have to be patient and persistent with each canvas; ten layers of colour may yield no joy when I try to interpret how I feel about my subject and yet when the relationships between the colours work, then the canvas sings to me. The result, after what can be a labour intensive and physical process, can look and feel as spontaneous as a chemical reaction.
In contrast my silkscreen prints reflect a combination of 60’s Pop Art and British eccentricity. Photographic images sit under, over or next to shapes and layers of colour in order to deliver a well designed balance between elements. Printed patterns and images can repeat in such a way as to create a deliberate chaos and consequently become new images themselves. My training and experience as a graphic designer gives me an understanding of how I can create harmony, awkwardness and humour with the images that I shoot myself to work with.
The impact of Rauschenberg, Warhol and Terry Gilliam runs deep with me and if I can produce prints with equal dynamism and darkness then I can consider myself content. These guys lived to love.