Statement

…some very simple and generalised pencil jottings about the philosophy of the art of painting.

Poetry: painting and drawing can be likened to a a form of poetry. It corresponds to a certain metre; it should somehow unfold to the observer in a way that touches, that moves the heart.

Empathy: Let it mirror, in some mysterious way, something of the pathos of our human condition. Then it will evoke from us a response because we find something unseen of ourselves in the viewing.

Narrative: it should in some measure, however small, convey a story of some kind. There must be a sort of movement within it that carries the viewer further into the work, and then returns and leaves some inprint on our heart and in our mind.

Craft: without craftmanship and skill, there cannot be a continued effectiveness in creative work. It is absolutely essential that a painter knows and uses his chosen medium skillfully. At its basic level, painting is only tiny dots of colour, but it takes a lifetime to learn to put them all in the right place, in the right way.

Integrity: Sometimes, but not always, success brings compromise and failure, whereas failure prepares us for success in the future. Somehow you must strive to maintain a true likeness to the basic vision of the heart. It will cost you something to walk in this way, are you prepared for it?

Love: the most meaningful art carries within it this love for God, for creation, for man/womankind: in that this love is somehow motivating, guiding, even if the artist is not completely consciously aware of it: love has become the bridge. The complexities, the absurdities, the tragedies of our human condition – all its pain and troubles, joys and hopes – the pathos of our condition must somehow fill us, becoming for us the empty canvas from which we begin.