How would you describe what you do to someone who hasn’t seen your art?
I paint mainly abstracts and abstract landscapes; no rules. Medium/big sized work. I don’t have much patience for details so I don’t put much in my painting – big moody brush strokes normally prevail. I mainly use oil colour and acrylic.
When did you first fall in love with art?
It’s hard to say when I fell in love with it, but I can tell you what I fell in love with: the creative process. When I paint, a relationship begins between the canvas and me. It’s a two way relationship – the painting responds one way or another to my actions and eventually it will require me to work in a certain way or do a certain thing to it. I love the feeling I get when I realise what it is that I need to do to move forward with it, and the sense I get when I know a painting is completed.
Where are you based?
I live and paint in Mullumbimby. I am very fortunate to have a studio only a few metres away from my door step. It’s quite a magical place sitting right under a big fig tree. There is a fire place as well, so on rainy days and in winter the atmosphere is magic.
What does a typical day in the studio involve?
It really depends on the day and the stage of the work I am tackling. I prefer to work on more than one piece at the time, it helps me understand in which direction to move and it keeps my mind in a dynamic mode. My paintings almost always begin from one idea, but it mutates several times.
Where do you find inspiration?
It could be the environment, but a story or an image, a colour or a song can have the same effect – anything that moves me either in a good or bad way is a source of inspiration. I think it’s a state of mind that relies on emotions, rather than subjects.
What have you been working on recently?
I am working on a couple of commissions at the moment, as well as two pieces for a group show in a few weeks at Peek Gallery, Byron Bay and I am beginning to work on my first solo exhibition later this year. So, very busy and very excited!
If you could add one artwork to your own art collection what would it be and why?
The Hay Wain, 1821 by John Constable. I would often go to The National Gallery, when I lived in London, and I was always drawn to this painting. I’d spend quite some time looking at all the detail and the scene and sort of immerse myself in it. I think it takes me back to the place I grew up, where my whole childhood unravelled by the course of a river.