The Artist's Evening Drawing

My work is influenced by all that I see around me; special places, people, and experiences that have moved me.  I love to travel and take in different scenery and cultures - to experience other views of the world and to incorporate and explore that in my paintings.  I am motivated by the beauty found in people and nature - both the outer physical interpretation and the more intrinsic internal response.   My work always takes me on a journey. In the end it becomes a destination and place where I’m happy to spend time and just exist within the painting.  Most of my work will start off from something I have seen and been inspired by, but it very rarely ends up there.  In all my work, my goal is to remain truthful in my response to a subject and the development of the painting. This usually means allowing the painting to take me where it wants to go.  Therefore I never quite know what the final result will be until I get there.   I believe in creating something that not only speaks to me but is able to take the viewer on their own personal journey.  Once I’ve finished a painting it has much less to do with me and much more to do with the person looking at it.  Ultimately, I like to create works of beauty and expression that will be enhanced though the eyes of the viewer from their own imagination. My work is definitely influenced from the art of the old masters.  Technique and archival qualities are important to me and I am committed to these principles in my work. I have an eternal fascination with light:  the effects with various pigments, the source and colour of the light, and the way in which it falls on various subjects. I often use stark tonal values, enhancing space, depth and the illusion of the 3 dimensional within a two dimensional plane.