Colour

Colour is who I am. I see colour everywhere, and my artwork, covered in the thick, glossy coat of resin, just makes the colour pop even more. No matter what time of day, or what light is hitting the artwork, the colour bounces off it onto other surfaces, blending and reflecting in a way that is different than intended, yet utterly captivating and beautiful.

Resin

My experience with resin started from wanting to put a clear coat over some colour to make it pop. After many years of testing, finissing and still being surprised, I am still a student of resin. It is fun and frustrating at the same time; it is messy and dirty; there is control on a good day, and total lack of it on a bad or surprising day. And that is good this way!

My heros

While starting out as a student with a formal landscape artist, I soon realised that my patience for that wasn’t there. I then started working in a freestyle, and once free to do my own thing with kids at school, I commenced experimenting with a style of my own. Since then, and reflecting back, it is artists like Dale Frank who would have been my early influencers. I never assume to be anywhere near his style nor capability, but realise that in the background, he and others like him set a quiet determination in my mind to master the art of resin.

Size

Always one to shock curators at large exhibitions, I am governed by having to go large. I can’t paint any other way….it seems unfair to the canvas, the colours and my form of expression to confine myself to a smaller size for need to suit wall space. I do feel bad about this, but right now, I have not learnt to go small. It appears I am heading in the other direction!!

For me, my artwork has stories in them. Each colour added, and each layering exercize is a story in its’ own right. There is, by default, a pause or drying time between layers, and this means that when re-connecting with the artwork, I tell the next section of the story. It leads me in a different direction than initially anticipated, as there have been other influences in my day in the meantime, and they need to be expressed. Hense large, I have big days!