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Gouash and mixed media on paper
40cm x 60cm
I was inspired by a musician I saw one day playing the washboardwith great feeling and seriousness. The scene seemed so absurd to me that I had to recreate the image.
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Oil on canvas. Öl auf Leinwand
70cm x 70cm
This is the first in the Sudoku series It started off as a study on that 'intense gaze' I found interesting in the Alaskan Malamute breed. It's a painting of Taz and I did what I had been avoiding an many of my previous studies. I painted a head-on pose. That coupled with the fact that I used a square canvas, meant that I had an image that looked and felt like a target. The painting evolved into a symbol for me and the following series continues in the numerical, symbolic and representative style, examining the domestic subject matter in a graphic and stylised manner. How the series is exhibited is all important and outweighs the individual pieces.
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Watercolour and ink on cotton rag paper
40cm x 57cm
This really was a German / English combination as "Spinner" in German means "nutter". Finally the ideas are gaining depth and maturity. This piece is inspired by my various experiences with people who suffer with various mental disorders. What became increasingly clear was that these people don't have the same perception of the world. What I like about this piece is that it's not clear who or what the painting depicts. Is it the perception of the Spinner or is it the person himself?
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Oil on Canvas Öl auf Leinwand
7" x 7" (18cm x 18cm)
This painting accompanies the first in the Sudoku series. Rather like a satellite painting, I intended it to be a reaction to and/or related to the first painting. It is considerably smaller than the first, though still larger than life in scale.
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Oil on Canvas. Öl auf Leinwand
70cm x 70cm
Working my way though the numbers in Sudoku, this was number 2. I took the image of two dogs playing. With such big dogs, it is unclear if they are playing or fighting.
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Oil on Canvas. Ol auf Leinwand
7" x 7" 18cm x 18cm
The reactionary satellite painting to go with FrEIND FrIGHT. Note my measurements in inches. I was getting a little number obcessed with this series (hardly surprising considering how many sudoku puzzles I was doing every day) I found the pure logic required to complete the puzzle was very effective at taking my mind off emotional and anxious thinking. Applying pure logic to everyday life situations however is quite ineffective.
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Oil on Canvas. Öl auf Leinwand
70cm x 70cm
This painting is actually a reference to some of my earliest work (the deportment series), it's based on some studio photographs I took in black and white and then worked on in various print media. I was always drawn to the slightly contorted pose and the subjects awareness of the viewer.
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Oil on Canvas Öl auf Leinwand
70cm x 70cm
An oversized study of 'Be'. I loved the shape of the dog's head and the expression. There is something quite odd about this painting being quite so much larger than life. It's possibly the most loosely painted in the series and the original sketch lines are visible through the paint.
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Oil On Canvas Öl auf Leinwand
7" x 7" (18cm x 18cm)
The satellite painting accompanying Sudoku 4. I used an image from a stage performance here. Somehow the melodrama contrasted the matter-of-factness of the large painting quite nicely.
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Oil on Canvas. Öl auf Leinwand
70cm x 70cm
Not quite finished yet.
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Oil on Canvas Öl auf Leinwand
70cm x 70cm
This was Diva's 'leave me alone' position. I knew what she felt like.
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Waterclour and gouash on cotton rag paper
40cm x 57cm
I have always had an interest in Wishing trees whether in Scotland or in other lands. It appears to be a global phenomonon in traditional communities. To write your most heartfelt desire upon a piece of paper or simply to a hang a piece of your clothing in the special tree to enable the wish to come true. Personally I believe we carry around our own internal wishing trees in our "inner being" or soul. Sometimes those Wishing trees get a bit out of control and become a bit overgrown..
Part of the "Living with Madness" series
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Watercolour on cotton rag paper. Aquarelle auf Papier
46cm x 39cm
I took a photo of this sculptural mound of branches on the shoreline not far from Aberdeen. It was a windswept and bitterly cold day and with no other soul to be seen on the beach, I found the enormous driftwood construction quite haunting. Somebody else had made it, but why? It wasn't intended for burning as the waves regularly lapped the base. If it was landscape art, then I loved it particularly because it was abandoned and only to be found by others braving the intemperate weather. I chose to transfer the image to paint as I felt the photo didn't capture the magic the way I felt it. This image makes for a good study as the final painting ought to be monumental, like the subject.
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Watercolour, ink and gouash on paper.
26cm x 20cm
I don't think I really do landscapes. They are more like portrait studies of a place, or something in a place. Mood is the most important ingredient for me and if it happens to be monumental, even better.
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Oil on Canvas. Öl auf Leinwand
100cm x 162cm
I've been working on this painting sporadically for ages. At last it seems to be nearing it's completion and I have a series planned to accompnany it. Watch this space
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Oil on Canvas
7" x 7"
The satellite painting to go with Sudoku 5
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