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Every artist must spend time developing their craft and visual vocabulary. Some spend their time in Art School or University. Some are completely self taught and develop their style without any reference to formal art training. I am somewhere in between these extremes. I received some training when I was in University, but the most important part of my art education has been self-directed. I have read widely and intensely. I have traveled widely and visited art galleries around the world. My studies have inspired me to try out many new ideas on canvas. I have experimented relentlessly and my style is continually evolving, but my current work and most of the work on this site follow the general principles that follow.
It makes no sense to me to use fixed-point perspective. The world is just not like that. This point was made abundantly clear to me by climbing a mountain. There is an imposing mountain peak that seems to face my home town. .From the ground the mountain seems separated from the range behind it. It is a perfect model for the cliche landscape - the highway even curls around it and vanishes into the distance, but the perspective from the peak is entirely different. From the top you can see that it is connected to a mountain range that extends all the way to California and faces away from town. I use multi-plane perspective or even replace all notion of perspective with design and pattern because the world we live in is visually complex and full of these surprising relationships. I am scientific in my approach to painting. Research shows that as the eye moves from surface to surface each colour it encounters is carried as an afterimage which it mixes with the next colour it encounters. It is this principle that will cause a blue couch in front of an orange wall to appear to change colour when it is placed in front of a green wall. I was inspired by this to experiment until I developed a technique where I take left over colour from one area and use it as a beginning base for the next colour. This exploration has given my painting unique visual textures and a natural harmony of colour. I try to capture the space behind objects and the spirit behind everything. I believe the world is much more than what we can see or measure. Einstein was wrong when he said that the speed of light is the ultimate speed in the Universe. The ultimate speed in the Universe is the speed of thought. Imagine yourself in the Andromeda Galaxy and you are there. Imagine yourself floating on the Dead Sea and you are there. Imagine a better world and we can create it on a canvas. I am intrigued by the giant steps that took mankind to the moon, but it is the giant steps of imagination that inspire me to paint.
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