My abstract paintings are a response
to a view of the world seen from above, usually from
the seat of an aircraft.
I look down on the configuration of landscape shapes
and record them as quick drawings. The twist and turn
of meandering rivers, wet or dry mudflats or the crash
of the sea onto rising cliffs are the inspiration
for my paintings which are interpretations or re-presentations
of those elements of a physical reality. The excitement
for me is working up the drawn image in the studio
and the opportunity it affords me to push the boundaries
in art and to create paintings which are more than
a ‘landscape‘. My paintings go beyond
the reality and encompasses something of the sensations
felt from being above the world.
The texture of paint in its thick application is a
response to the rugged contour of the land below and
the wonderful physicality in the act of painting brings
me in tune with my subject.
Some recent paintings have been inspired by a closer
view of the world and I have enjoyed looking down
on gatherings of people who are below me in airport
concourses and other similar situations. These paintings
present the relationship of groups of people in their
temporary space, capturing a non intrusive moment
in their lives. They are concerned with the occupancy
of a place in a space and not the portrait likenesses.
In 2001 I was elected a Member of Manchester Academy
of Fine Art and to its Council in 2004
I have held numerous mixed and solo exhibitions around
the country.
