Bob Dylan once said that a man is a success if he gets up in the morning, goes to bed at night and somewhere in the middle does exactly what he wants to do. Now I am not a man, but I am sure the sexual revolution will allow me a bit of freeway to use it and adopt that lifestyle.
Bold colour, no fixed agenda's, no concern for rules or regulations, I paint what I know and I will forever be a student of art. When I make art, I am reminded of a duty in conveying my feelings onto a canvas or in my writing. An artist's life is not always an easy life, we expose our soul for the world to see and critique. Hence why you will never see me critique another artist in a demeaning way. To put down their work in a non-constructive way is the same as putting the artist down themselves, and really, we all have the right to be here. An artist can never please everyone's taste, therefore it is important to me that my work is true to myself and represents the integrity that is within me.
There is a lot of isolation in my life, not being around many like-minded people, which in turn is reflected in my art. I share a house with musicians with all their musician friends coming and going everyday and while I do have social aspects to my life, I tend to do that sparingly. When I am out socially, I am out and having a wonderful time, surrounding myself in positivity and love and taking it all in. But I much prefer to spend my time in hermit-type surroundings and go into my cave when I am in the middle of creation. Art, to me, is a process of my mind and personal feelings and simplicity in an aesthetic sense as my aim.
I cannot imagine anyone not wanting to live a creative life. Everything I do, I do from a creative perspective. Painting, writing and even cooking, I live and breathe creativity. Sometimes I have so many ideas in my head I think I'm going to explode or get overwhelmed by how much I have to do. I am art obsessed and I have no desire to change my mindset. I accept that this is my calling one way or another, regardless of whether I am good at it or not. I surround myself in love and positivity and at night when I write about my day to see how full it was, I try and better it the next day. I am never idle and I never understand when people say they're bored.
I have always had a fascination with the way light falls on an object and the different colours it can reflect. I find inspiration everywhere. I always begin my process with the notion of colour. Even as the composition evolves, the colour is still the primary focus of my work. To me, there is nothing more therapeutic than squeezing some magnificent colour, like Prussian Blue, out of the tube, mixing it and watching a transformation of colour appear before my eyes. I always paint stream of consciousness, even though I keep an art journal. It is the way I write too, whether poetry or prose, the workings of my mind is my muse. This stream of consciousness allows me to paint how I feel at that time. One day it may be an Abstract/Action painting executed alongside music that inspires me, another day it can be a whimsical/naive style that reflects innocence and a hope for the future.. I have no art face of my own yet, and am in no rush to get one. I just paint what I want to paint when the muse tells me. When my work is going well it engulfs me. I cannot think much about anything else except getting into my work gear, locking myself up in my studio with music blaring and a glass of white wine in my hand. All I need is paint, a surface and my favourite brushes and I'm set.
Australian artist Charles Blackman is my guru. His work evokes a sense of duality and one in which I can totally relate to. His art has been a source of inspiration to me since the beginning of my art life and it is to him that I am thankful for in being an artist today, although he will never know it. But it's not enough for me to be inspired by others, I also want to be inspirational. I didn't always live my life this way, I used to let a lot of negativity get in the way of my ideal life. It has been a long process getting here, and I feel it is my duty to share my knowledge to anyone who can benefit from it. My blog has been totally reserved for positive and uplifting posts to help people understand that they are part of this world and have just as much right to be here as the next person.
Bold colour, no fixed agenda's, no concern for rules or regulations, I paint what I know and I will forever be a student of art. When I make art, I am reminded of a duty in conveying my feelings onto a canvas or in my writing. An artist's life is not always an easy life, we expose our soul for the world to see and critique. Hence why you will never see me critique another artist in a demeaning way. To put down their work in a non-constructive way is the same as putting the artist down themselves, and really, we all have the right to be here. An artist can never please everyone's taste, therefore it is important to me that my work is true to myself and represents the integrity that is within me.
There is a lot of isolation in my life, not being around many like-minded people, which in turn is reflected in my art. I share a house with musicians with all their musician friends coming and going everyday and while I do have social aspects to my life, I tend to do that sparingly. When I am out socially, I am out and having a wonderful time, surrounding myself in positivity and love and taking it all in. But I much prefer to spend my time in hermit-type surroundings and go into my cave when I am in the middle of creation. Art, to me, is a process of my mind and personal feelings and simplicity in an aesthetic sense as my aim.
I cannot imagine anyone not wanting to live a creative life. Everything I do, I do from a creative perspective. Painting, writing and even cooking, I live and breathe creativity. Sometimes I have so many ideas in my head I think I'm going to explode or get overwhelmed by how much I have to do. I am art obsessed and I have no desire to change my mindset. I accept that this is my calling one way or another, regardless of whether I am good at it or not. I surround myself in love and positivity and at night when I write about my day to see how full it was, I try and better it the next day. I am never idle and I never understand when people say they're bored.
I have always had a fascination with the way light falls on an object and the different colours it can reflect. I find inspiration everywhere. I always begin my process with the notion of colour. Even as the composition evolves, the colour is still the primary focus of my work. To me, there is nothing more therapeutic than squeezing some magnificent colour, like Prussian Blue, out of the tube, mixing it and watching a transformation of colour appear before my eyes. I always paint stream of consciousness, even though I keep an art journal. It is the way I write too, whether poetry or prose, the workings of my mind is my muse. This stream of consciousness allows me to paint how I feel at that time. One day it may be an Abstract/Action painting executed alongside music that inspires me, another day it can be a whimsical/naive style that reflects innocence and a hope for the future.. I have no art face of my own yet, and am in no rush to get one. I just paint what I want to paint when the muse tells me. When my work is going well it engulfs me. I cannot think much about anything else except getting into my work gear, locking myself up in my studio with music blaring and a glass of white wine in my hand. All I need is paint, a surface and my favourite brushes and I'm set.
Australian artist Charles Blackman is my guru. His work evokes a sense of duality and one in which I can totally relate to. His art has been a source of inspiration to me since the beginning of my art life and it is to him that I am thankful for in being an artist today, although he will never know it. But it's not enough for me to be inspired by others, I also want to be inspirational. I didn't always live my life this way, I used to let a lot of negativity get in the way of my ideal life. It has been a long process getting here, and I feel it is my duty to share my knowledge to anyone who can benefit from it. My blog has been totally reserved for positive and uplifting posts to help people understand that they are part of this world and have just as much right to be here as the next person.
- What is your favourite tool? Why?
- What is your favourite matierial? Why?
- What do you like best about what you do?
- What do you mean when you say that a piece has turned out really well?
- What patterns emerge in your work? Is there a pattern in the way you select your materials? In the way you were taught? Why?
- What is your favourite colour?