Artist’s Statement

I am an abstract landscape artist originally from Northumberland, but currently living with my wife Catherine in West Yorkshire.

My painting is all about light and the power of nature and how it affects and interacts with the land, the sky and water. They do not always depict a particular place or time.  Those that do, often become unrecognisable as I express the experiences and feelings that, not only re-surface, but are discovered during painting.  And so, I create an imagined reality; a space where nature and feeling fuse together in a timeless landscape.

Painting is a subtractive process.  Beginning with everything, maximum light, chaos, it is the subtraction that gives us order and weight to the remaining light and colour.  The abrupt movement between light and dark provides immediate sensation. The neutral greys set amongst saturation, lights against dark.

Using mainly brushes and painting knives, I have also been known to use ink rollers, sponges, squeegees, cling film and anything that can produce an interesting mark. I begin by making a mess; different colours, lights and darks, broad and confident movements. Then I pick out what I like and discard what is not working. In this initial process, I use acrylic paint as it dries quickly and so enables me to create layers. Only later, when the acrylic stage has taken shape and developed into sound composition, do I introduce oils, from thick impasto to thin, translucent glazes.