I am interested in how the universe works.  I am frequently possessed by the dynamic flow I sense in nature, which I think is the key to it all. I could describe it by dancing, singing, or using any of my senses.  In fact its multi sensory quality often confounds my ability to express it, and I end up scared, to the extent that I begin to think that a blank canvas is the most accurate expression of what I perceive.  Maybe it is in a way. 

For me the paintings are a doorway to a virtual Temenos. A Temenos was in classical Greece a sacred area of land dedicated to worship or healing.  Jung used the word to mean a safe place where a person can work with and transform their unconscious self.  To Jung the archetypal Temenos was a squared circle, usually a symmetrically structured rose garden with a fountain in the middle.  I think this is why I am drawn to square canvases!

When I paint it is as if I connect with the essence of the plant.  It is something that is both inside and outside of time.  That is why there is often a ghost image of the structure of the plant in the background.  It is part of the process of painting over time, and with different parts of my mind.  For me it evokes a sense of the subject beyond time, and beyond the perception of my conscious mind. 

My paintings are also very much about sound.  It is as if the plant represents a sound or a sequence of sounds, and to me the patterns I make are a record of this. It is sound that is like pure notes or tones. It is a little like birdsong.

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I use the best professional artists' paints - mostly Michael Harding and Old Holland.  They have a beautiful silky texture, use non-yellowing binders, and are densely packed with lightfast pigment.   I put a lot of energy into precisely capturing colour as best I can, so am slightly obsessed with preventing it from changing over time. I prime my canvases thoroughly to ensure the oil doesn't penetrate.  Oil rots canvas over time.  Actually it rots it rather quickly if you paint on unprimed canvas and then use that canvas for curtains on a south facing window.  I speak from experience;  the shed on my allotment is no longer as private as it used to be. 

 

I have a slight problem with selling my work.  Not a good thing if you're an artist by nature, and are unhappy doing anything else, except perhaps writing and designing gardens.  It is because when I paint it is a very personal experience, a kind of healing process really, and the resulting work represents to me a tangible connection to an inner space of healing.  

This website is in part an attempt to deal with the obstacle of not being able to part with the physical paintings.  I am finding it is also motivating me to paint, and is a useful way of giving me more clarity about what I am painting and the best way of painting it.  

At least this way people who might enjoy seeing my paintings are able to do so.  There's no point making something that is meant to be seen and then keeping it out of sight.  I think that we are here on earth to understand what our gifts are, and then share them with others.  So this is the best way I can do that at present! 

In fact I'm already encouraged by how many people have said positive things about my paintings.  Some of them are family members that didn't even know I could paint, so I feel good about that.  Thanks family!

I am working on making prints of my paintings, and I'll have no problem selling those.  I think also in time as this whole venture progresses I will start to sell some of the originals in some way.  I am learning that this process is something that happens in many little steps, and I can only see as far as the next step.  Maybe the ultimate destination would freeze me like a rabbit in headlights if I could see that far.  Or maybe it just needs its privacy at the moment.


 

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