These paintings here are all acrylics and pastel on paper. The lack of a studio has made me work in my living room (chaos is not the word!), and I've had to avoid oils for family reasons etc, thus most of the work is small. Painting is too elusive to discuss with any seriousness. Much of it is spontaneous, playful and happy accident.
Cymbal. This first painting here
was done a couple of years ago when I was gradually shifting away from complete abstraction. At the time I was making marks that were direct responses to what I saw around me with concern that the total formal picture surface become activated. I want all sections to work with and against each other. This objective holds for all my work. (1993, acrylic, pencil and chalk pastel, 264mm x 202mm-63k)
That Kind of Day. Here
I nearly lapsed back into abstraction. I divided the whole surface into quadrants to physically demarcate the space. This was to set myself the problem of trying to unify these sections within the whole. (1994, acrylic and chalk pastel, 375mm x 235mm-59k)
Pascal's Things.
January 1995 I had a baby boy and it is an understatement to say that it was (and still is) a major uplifting life change. As I continued to paint in the living-room I couldn't escape all his toys and paraphernalia. All my work from then on, unavoidably had elements of him. (1995, acrylic and oil pastel, 178mm x 158mm-59k)
Telly On. I painted this
during one of the Wimbledon semi-finals. I think Liesje and Pascal were on the couch and the floor was littered with all of his things. Can you make out the television? (1995, acrylic and oil pastel, 300mm x 235mm-72k)
Wall and Away. Another in my living-room, this
with the cot heaped well over the top with more baby stuff. I guess these pictures are like parents who do not talk about anything other than their children. (1995, acrylic and oil pastel, 300mm x 235mm-77k)