Welcome

I see the painting not as a window looking out, but rather as a container in which I can freely arrange and rearrange things.

Painting is entertainment for me, so it's got to be fun! I start with one mark or a set of delicious colours. This begins a conversation of sorts between myself and the canvas. This is super exciting and I’m thrilled by the possibilities. As I make decisions to keep this mark or obscure this shape, problems start to emerge. I try keep a cheerful attitude even when the painting starts looking terrible. At some point I I think ‘oooh yuck, ok great, nothing to lose now’. This gets me excited to try something completely different and risky in order to salvage the painting.

The varied experience of the everyday is the aesthetic filter through which I approach painting. I bring what I have in the moment as I meet the painting; torn magazine shards, photos, song lyrics, doodles, notes and sketches of street life, fragments of other artist’s paintings, Instagram glimpses, drawings and collages. I juxtapose and layer many disparate things much like thoughts, events and memories might be arranged in a dream.

In the safe solitude of the studio I find I can let go of traditional ideas of good painting and be free to explore my idea of visual delight.