Artist Statement
As a small child I spent hours absorbed in making patterns and shapes with mud, water, stones and plants, and arranging fragments of coloured glass on the ground, captivated by the effects of the light falling on their surfaces. These days I am engaged in much the same process when I am painting a picture, although what inspires me can be different - part of a photograph, a mood created by a poem or a piece of music, or simply the way particular colours relate to each other.
There is often a suggestion of theatre in my work, but whether the painting is abstract or representational is unimportant because although the interpretation may be very different, the elements contained within are always the same. I begin with the struggle to realise the best way of using the image in terms of pallet and composition, but then, sooner or later, my state of mind shifts and the incomparable magic of the pigments and the essential substance of the original idea take over so that the painting finally becomes itself.