I’m now a full–time artist, and I usually work in acrylics and oil pastel on heavy watercolour paper or canvas, favourite size 50 by 40 cms.
My starting point is colour; I’ll take a limited palette of, say, four colours and explore possibilities. This was not always the case; I began with conventional street and architectural themes (bridges, flats, cranes, building sites) and gradually shifted to abstract pictures, often resembling landscape and aerial maps (influenced, probably, by Peter Lanyon).
Lately, I’ve produced a series of saints' heads executed in a variety of styles, suggested by, but not resembling, Russian icons. My pictures continue to range between the "wholly" abstract and the highly stylized figurative. Most abstract pictures look like something, so if it looks a bit like a parrot, that’s what I’ll call it; it’s not a parrot, though. Apparently, de Kooning did the same occasionally – wish I was as good as him.
I find I’m increasingly preoccupied with surface: ridging, scoring and roughening result in more textured look which, I feel, is more visually engaging than smoothness - for now, anyway. Consequently, my work has got a lot darker and the colours are less vibrant than in earlier pictures; but I still work in a variety of styles, so the odd minimalist picture shows up.
Painters I particularly like include Lanyon, Asger Jorn, Hans Hoffman, Franz Kline, de Kooning and Wols.
My exhibitions this year include the RWS at the Bankside, the RBA at the Mall Galleries and a one-person show at the Bashimi Art House in Salzburg.
