“If you can capture the essence of a mood or emotion with some simple lines, often no more is required.”
Simplicity is at the heart of my creative approach, and I try to keep the subject matter as uncomplicated as possible. This expands the scope for wonderfully unpredictable and surprising effects created as a piece evolves.
Keeping my artworks simple can be surprisingly complex. The concept is best expressed in the juxtaposition of opposites - light and dark, active and serene, the considered use of complimentary colours. In the quest for simplicity, much of my time is spent deciding what to leave out of a composition rather than what to include.
My work explores the boundaries of all forms of painting media. Instead of blending on a palette, I mix directly on the paper, picking up pure fresh pigment with each brush stroke. This spontaneous blending of pigments preserves the clean, crisp and luminous hues, especially of the water colour medium. It can be risky and sometimes the results are disappointing and have to be discarded but, when it works, it yields unique effects.
This is the exhilaration of creative discovery.
For several years I was based in Kununurra in Western Australia’s remote East Kimberley region. The time I spent with local indigenous artists here inspired me to explore the qualities of natural media like ochres and tree saps and, in recent years, experiment extensively with the application of powdered pigments.
I use these to represent what I see as the two different faces of the Kimberley, the masculine and the feminine. The Australian landscape is hostile and forbidding, unforgiving in its sometimes fatal extremes of temperature and rains. But, when seen from a distance, the colours are muted with a feminine softness and the shapes gently rounded. These two unexpected and opposing perspectives are deeply embodied in the ancient Kimberley landscape.
I have a particular interest in life drawing and have spent many years refining my approach to this essential fundamental skill. It is often the simplicity of the drawings, subject matter and economy of line that is so appealing. If you can capture a mood or emotion with a few simple lines then often no more is necessary.
I hope you enjoy the results…