Artist Statement
The focus of my work is synonymously related to nature and
landscape. It is an investigation of nature, its forms, its sublimate
captivation and the paradigm of how we align our position, perceptions
and reactions to them.
Predominantly my subjects derive from arboreal environments, which I
record with photography, sketch making, and through the internalisation
of personal experience. Hence, when we find ourselves in an environment
where the realisation of aloneness becomes internalised, there can be
various responses. Angst, vulnerability, fear, adrenaline, but
paradoxically, these feelings can also be interpreted as vision,
freedom, liberation, and excitement. They can be either comforting or
discomforting and this to me is a reflection of our individuality…
Q: What medium or mediums do you work with?
A: Currently I am working with various mediums which include
but are not limited to: ink, PVA, oil paint, digital imagery on paper,
on canvas.
I feel that restricting oneself to a single particular medium
denies the artist a degree of creativity which cannot exist without the
unpredictable nature of mixing mediums. It is at those times when the
medium seems to take over that the artists sense of loosing control is
in fact the artist at the height of his creativity.
Q: How long have you been an artist? How did you get started?
A: My first response to your question is; always. I
think that everyone in their early life is an artist, but only a few of
these artists learn how to continue being an artist. For me, I knew
that I was an artist during my school years and enrolled on as many
arts related classes as possible. I finished school at the age of
sixteen in 1984, but was discouraged from pursuing a career in art. I
became distracted by money and work and became an electronics engineer.
After about six years I felt empty and tired. I tried to fill
this emptiness by enrolling on an evening course for advanced level
fine art painting in 1990. This helped me but financial commitments
meant that I had to continue working in electronics. Another eight
years later and I had had enough. I became too disenchanted to continue
in electronics.
I knew then that I must explore my potential as an artist, and so 1998 was a turning point in becoming the artist that I am now.
Q: Do you have any formal training or are you self taught?
A: My formal training, I suppose, really began in senior school
with ‘O’ level Fine Art, Technical Drawing, and Craft Design
Technology. As previously mentioned I then later earned an ‘A’ Level in
Fine Art Painting on an evening course at college, this is where I was
introduced to oil paint.
After my ‘A’ level, any advancement of my knowledge was self
taught. I read books but mostly I just experimented with oil paint by
trial and error. I soon learned that it is the errors or mistakes that
one makes which ultimately advances ones skill. I might have been happy
to continue self educating myself, but the reality of the modern art
market is that qualifications count when it comes to finding
representation in high profile galleries. Some artists manage to carve
out an arena of critical debate around their work from being self
taught, but in most cases a Degree is beneficial or even essential too
an artists career, and so I began my Bachelors Degree with honours in
fine art painting and drawing at the University of Northampton in the
UK. I am entering my final year and graduate in 2010. I plan on
continuing my studies to go on and earn a Masters Degree the following
year...
Read the entire artist interview here.
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oil painting color mixing