| Based in: Ipswich The process of work identified opportunities within my studio practice that contrasted with my original intentions. My original intention was to
explore how the camera lens could be used as an artificial limb to help me capture images that could not otherwise exist. I achieved this early on and the camera has become part of my daily art practice, an important part that I now take for granted. The focus of my work moved forward taking
another impetus: the exploration of the poetic qualities of painting harnessed to achieve the effect I want in individual pieces. The works presented include two commissioned portraits plus pieces initiated as a way of resolving questions that have surfaced within my practice as a whole.
The language of painting is informed by history. It involves a dialogue between the historic and the contemporary. The historic techniques explored were: impasto painting within a colourist tradition, renaissance principles of underpainting, scumbling and glazing techniques used by painters from Rembrandt and Vermeer through the academic tradition down to the present day as well as contemporary mixed media techniques, combining drawing and watercolour. I have explored “traditional” techniques but with
an awareness that in order to achieve the outcome I wanted on each piece I would need to moderate the ‘rules’ and not be hide bound by them. Rather,
I have focussed on the poetry of the process and have been inspired by it. The language of painting captivated my imagination. As a result I feel I
now have a greatly expanded painterly vocabulary at my disposal, providing me with greater opportunities to engage sensitively with each new subject.
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