Artists
Statement
Basically,
I'm a traditional (some might say "old-fashioned") figurative
painter with an interest in various scientific disciplines. I
have always believed that the starting point for all creative work must
be the idea. This may come from within or from outside, although the
fact remains that even those more abstract ideas that do come from within
are initally fuelled from experience of the natural world. The image
I see either in my mind's eye or in nature is what generates the excitement
and thus the energy to create a painting. For me, painting or drawing
is also first and foremost about seeing, about observing. Merely look
at an object, and one will see it superficially -- indeed as most people
see it, but draw or paint it and the natural world will begin to reveal
itself. I hope to share this vision with others.
However, I am
at a loss to portray through what are purely visual means, the personal
warmth and concern of many unknown people whom I have met during my
travels. In particular, I can never forget an old woman in Garhwal who
bade me a tearful farewell after a night's stay in her hut and stuffed
all my pockets with plums; a poor Nepali farmer who shared with me --
the seventh member of his family -- the 30 square feet of dry ground
under a leaky roof; while sketching in the Khulu, my youthful and exuberant
guide who made me cross without ice-axe or rope, slippery ice-tongues
leading straight to a river flowing 3000 feet below; a Buddhist pilgrim
in Lahul, who bade me drink his only cup of Tibetan tea when I was wet,
cold and frozen; and the Amyara Indian with whom I enjoyed a rather
unusual meal while stranded at 16,500 feet on the Chilean altiplano.
A
true journey is a mutation. Once marked by it, you can never be the
same as you were before.