Artist’s statement :
My work has been variously described as realist, figurative, descriptive and narrative. Sometimes even as having a touch of surrealism. I don’t think it can be limited to just one of those adjectives, and yet each one of them has an element of truth in it.
The fact of the matter is that I seem to use a range of different ideas, which don’t seem connected with each other at first. This sometimes creates a problem for the viewer, as often artists are categorised and presented to the public with a “label”. I am not a landscapist, a surrealist, or a realist etc… yet perhaps, I am all those things at the same time.
The connection between the images I create, is the approach to the composition, the way I treat the light, the emphasis on the unusual, the angle, the humour sometimes… Each image tells a story, and as such perhaps deserves the term descriptive or narrative. The landscapes for instance are not always an exact epresentation, as I might add elements to it which were seen only later on. Usually, they are painted in my studio, weeks later, after having spent a lot of time sketching it, and photographing it, often on the move ( sometimes on the back of a horse as in Wyoming), so that I am totally immersed in it, and that way it is stills fresh in my memory when I actually start the painting.
As in the landscapes the other categories of images, are based on observation. An idea starts in my head, I follow it up by going sketching in public places, like museums , libraries, cafes, etc… which in turn feed my imagination, and steers me in a direction I had not always anticipated. It is a part of the work I really enjoy, as it is a bit like going on an adventure, not knowing what’s at the end.
The final result of all this, is an image which I hope conveys what I felt at the time, suggests a story, and invites the viewer to reflect, smile, and basically enjoy him or herself watching my work…
Perhaps it is worth mentioning Rembrandt, Vermeer, Turner, Toulouse –Lautrec, Frederic Russell, Edward hopper, René Magritte, Hergé, and Bartolomeo Dos Santos,
as the artists who most inspire me, and whose work I consistently go back to for help.