Artist Statement
It was a surprise to totally change careers and take up the journey of painting. Living in central London I took myself off to Chelsea Art School. This was an amazing thing to do as for thirty years I had been a respectable Consulting Engineer working with Architects hearing their ideas and working through to complete buildings.
Training as an Engineer included draftsmanship and the preparation of measured working drawings. As an Engineer you become very familiar with paper, drawing pens and ink.
During this time we bought a rather neglected Edwardian family house which I completely refurbished from stripping, re-plumbing, re-wiring and re-decorating both inside and outside. All of this work gave me a lot of transferable skills.
In my life I have been very fortunate in the people I have met. I spent six years in Beryl Pogson’s group. Here I learnt glass engraving, making mosaics, pottery and was introduced to the ideas of Maurice Nicholl, a Jungian, as well as Pogson’s books and her interpretations of Shakespeare.
A new world. These interests gave me a good grounding when I committed to painting.
After leaving Chelsea I have always had a studio, usually with groups of other artists. It has been amazing to work with other people and learn from them. Gradually gaining confidence I went to an Artist Residence in Spain and six months later married the painter, Virginia Bradley, in the next studio. This led to my leaving London and settling in America.
My painting now takes three forms. I always carry a small notebook, which I use to catch the Muse. It is a place to jot poems, ideas and drawings to which I might add watercolours. The second are small more formal watercolours, these are pleasing to do in Puerto Rico as they dry so quickly. Lastly are larger abstracts on canvas which go up to about five foot square. For many of these I have used a fixed form, which allows concentration on colour. Currently I am developing a new series, which considers symbols
One always needs something to start a painting off. Sometimes, it is wanting to use a particular colour. It may be a shape or a phrase. In a way my paintings have two main reasons for their creation. The first is to try to communicate to the viewer the feelings that I had which stimulated me to do the painting. The second is to create something that will bringing some peace and tranquility into our busy lives.