Abstract & Concept Artist
01
A cold day in Swiss Cottage
It was in 1991 I decided that I would paint. What or how I was going to paint I was not sure, all I knew on that winters day in Swiss Cottage Market in London, I was going to buy these paints and brushes, take them home and begin
02
This was not going to be easy
I began, and I never stopped, the pleasure from the first application, the realisation I had found something I not only enjoyed, but was willing to dedicate myself to was weighted with the frustration of not being happy with what was produced
03
Travelling Light
I left London in 92 to travel throughout Europe for 8 months. Oils were out of the question so I took watercolours. Watercolours were and will always be a challenge, a medium I love, underrated, but as difficult a medium there is to paint with
04
From recreate to create
I clearly remember the time in the old Tate Gallery that is now Tate Britain when I stopped aiming for the Pre-Raphaelites and impressionists and turned my attention to the Jackson Pollock’s and Ben Nicholson’s. It was a long time before I had consciously decided to move from figurative to abstract, but that period ironically seemed to come around the time I was beginning to be confident with my figurative work.
06
A new start
It was now 1994, I had moved back to Salisbury . I was settled and had joined life drawing and other different classes at the art collage when I started becoming more experimental. I was introduced to the art of Giocometti, William Scott, and Gerhard Richter, along with many other other artists, which led me to search for my own style
07
Scratch under the surface
The first time I scratched a painting was in 1999, I had now spent 8 years painting and 2 or 3 trying to find my own unique style. It did not come in a moment, but over time I become fascinated with the idea that nothing is as it seems. When we scratch beneath the surface, another view appears
08
Time to take this furthur
It was always going to happen, I had to make a choice between career and painting. I was working in London at the time, commuting from Brighton and working long hours when I decided to change, as I could not find the energy to paint. So I packed up and moved to France so I could spend more time on my art
09
Drawing the line
I already knew by now that the direction I wanted to take was by layering paint on paper, canvas or board, scratching at these layers until I felt I had arrived at something that meant something to me. Some simple shapes, some complex seemed to work. Then by chance I scraped a single line across a board and realised I had found the last piece of my puzzle
10
How much is too much
My first thoughts of concept art were in ignorance, greed was going to be the focus of it. Over the next few years, I spent a lot of time reflecting on how you could put that into a painting. Then it took on its own life. It had to be ridiculously expensive, it had to be simple and clear, and it had to show greed, mine the artist that was creating this, and the greed of the person who would purchase one of these paintings to display on their wall so everybody could see how wealthy they were
11
Subject matters
By 2005 I realised there is no subject you could paint that could express pure greed without falling into cliche. So, I chose a number, the painting would be a worthless representation of the amount it would cost, a price tag. With that I began painting 3 boards with a figure of 1 million, each scratched a million times
11
Subject matters
By 2005 I realised there is no subject you could paint that could express pure greed without falling into cliche. So, I chose a number, the painting would be a worthless representation of the amount it would cost, a price tag. With that I began painting 3 boards with a figure of 1 million, each scratched a million times