Inspirations

LANDSCAPES: Be it either trying to capture an essence of place or the feeling of elation, at seeing something for the first time, or the scale of grandeur involved these are some of the motivational forces that I pursue in a painting, I feel that it is not always about visual correctness.

To try and capture that other level of connectivity or emotive content that is being experienced puts another dimension in the work, this of course may not be noticed by the viewer. Because to me life is about the subtleties and the nuances, but they may, (if they have been there and had similar emotions feel connectivity to the place) and too them the piece just works. Then it has achieved its intention and worked. I think great art on all level and genres works because it may achieve this.

My works can range from direct representation to more esoteric in nature, This is unknown to me until I start as to which direction I will take, it also depends on what I am trying to convey or feel. It was once said that all artists are painting themselves, this I think is true, and if the piece works as dialogue or monologue and can connect with the viewer, is what, makes it work or fail, If they like it, they enjoy or purchase it to continue to have the experience or if not they move on.

Working in the genre of the landscape takes my family and I all over the world having different experiences, with new inspirations and ideas.

The adrenaline rush for me, is the same be it working with one of my models trying to interpret the landscape or racing around a circuit in my race car to me is all the same, and part of an interesting and varied life.

Visual Recall
The inspiration: This came from a dinner party on day when a friend was discussing the failure of there camera to capture the splendour of the scenery from a recent holiday they had under-taken, The camera although is a great means to capture the pictorial scene can lose the element of grandeur or cannot convey the feeling of elation upon first seeing something or the mood you were in that day This is an on-going series of works that I have been exploring over the years, trying to capture an essence of a place, and the impression that it left on me; the works are completed with no pictorial reference at all, just the impression left in my mind this can end up with some surprising results.

Storms:
I am constantly challenged by the speed and complexity of storms and there interplay with the ocean, it is an ongoing pursuit of mine and when the winter storms approach. I will either strap down an easel in the storm, or just sit in the storm allow it to invade me, then while still wet go back to my studio and paint the feeling from memory. These works because of the pragmatics of wet weather painting are produced with oil on canvas, but sometimes I work on paper for different effects.

Nudes

NUDES: The deep tradition of the painted nude is something that evokes in me a sense of involvement in a historic pathway, the figure has been a study of artists since we started scratching on walls

The element of nudes versus landscapes to me is a fascinating pursuit, my inspirations come from, the nude as a motif, the basic form is the same for everyone apart from the genetically challenged we are all the same, with some variances under our clothing. The variances for me come from inside the figure, to capture the mood of a model or the individual themselves; this is why I like to work with a limited number, but well known to me, models.

Trying to capture the essence of the model, be it in a artistic or social environment I am constantly analyzing the models moods, movements and motions to try and convey more than just a figure on paper, what I call “body-portraits”. This is where the inspiration for the text pieces comes from to add another dimension to the pieces ( be it dialogue or monologue), to allow the viewer another level of understanding that goes on between, model and artist. The intense close personal relationship that builds over years, but not on a relationship- intimacy level, but in another area, the attraction comes from an intense artistic involvement not from a sexual one, this is a very fine line that over the centuries has been a stumbling block for many artists.

An artists relationship can falter because it takes a special partner that understands what goes on between an artist and model, this is why many artists’ relationships fail and one of his models becomes their partner. One of the best examples to me and understanding this relationship is the portrayal in the film ‘La belle Noiseuse’ it goes some way to show on screen the intimacy between artist and his models. But unfortunately unless a person has experienced being a model or the artist it is too easy to be flippant and say “that they are more than just friends”. To try and convey the relationship in a piece of art is a very difficult thing, like trying to catch the wind, as soon as you catch it, it’s gone. This endless pursuit to me is fascinating and a motivational force that ceaselessly inspires me and is a huge inspirationally adrenaline rush.

This along with my desire to produce better work allows me to constantly strive towards capturing an essence that cannot only be seen but also felt. I am my own worst critic and this forces me to strive to produce works that I am satisfied with “ an endless pursuit”

Charcoal based works: Trying to capture an essence, is to me is what it’s about. To try and convey to the viewer that same inspirational moment I saw within the movement of the model or the way they were feeling that day, a pictorial narrative. I work with a variety of papers, depending on the out-come I desire, from softer in nature to a harder edge; as a result the works run from contemporary to a greater sense of realism, but trying to keep a sense of allure about the piece.

Text based works: These works are works that spontaneously happen when working on a piece, the work may start out as more traditional in nature but something happens and either the dialogue or monologue starts to invade the piece, when the writing starts it can be completely lost in the process, or parts of the text can be left, I do I have a great deal of input into where or when.

It can also happen to have phrases or paragraphs from books I am reading or articles I have read, or comments from general conversation during the day, these words or phrases are in my mind and normally, but not always have some reference to the piece I am working on but may be brought up during conversation with the model.

Ink based works: I love working with Indian ink on canvas, to try to capture a pose in one direction (To work in this medium is very difficult because there is no going back to erase or cover up, the medium does not allow this, so the failure rate is quite high). The works are highly demanding and consuming; this is the allure of this genre.