Painting overview

The slide shows on this page represent a cross-section of my work. My latest art deals with branches and grid patterns in nature and is painted in a representational manner. I will shortly be doing work incorporating more abstract elements as my art has been going in this direction as a natural progression over the last few years.

Notes on Rocks and Bowls as subject matter
Two bleak subjects that lend themselves to a minimal monumental approach.1.The Song of the Stones:Piles of rocks and stones or heaps of sand; hard labour excavations. Breaking the surface of the earth to bring up objects and riches or to bury bodies, evidence. The tell-tale evidence perhaps of criminal activity. As punishment the digging of endless holes. The piling up of rocks or stones into stacks. The counting of heaps to calculate profits. Wherever there has been political/social incarceration people are required to carry out endless mind-numbing exercises such as quarrying and digging, breaking and transporting stones. The Myth of Sisyphus. It makes human effort seem very small and mostly in vain; negative connotations. Digging of trenches for warfare, trenches and holes for protection. Vision of the diggings: grids demarcating mounds of stones waiting to be crushed to reveal hidden wealth. Rocks, stones where traces of the past reside, fossils, stone implements, weapons, of the earth, some as old as the earth itself. Static forms of matter for a long period. Compressed sand, volcanic activity. Evidence of the evolution of matter and humanity in one substance. Exhibits properties of hardness and softness. Spearheads, arrowheads, cutting stones, mill stones. Excavation, scarring and intrusion into the earth. Tibetan sand painting one visual aspect. Anish Kapoor(Pigments) Andy Goldsworthy (installations of rocks). Isandhlwana is a manifestation of a significant collection of rocks and sand for example, but we can break this down into ceremonial sizes, viz. the mounds of white-washed stones used as memorials for the British troops. Also then the whole idea of tombstones and other memorial slabs etc. Closely related theme:
2. Bowls: for holding water or food. Multipurpose. Used in concentration camps as head rests as well as utensil function. For waste and nutrition. Always piles of bowls found at the WW2 concentration camp sites. One of the ultimate symbols of civilisation, the utilitarian vessel, the most basic and easy to make. A repository of human ascent and descent. The filling of the bowl and the emptying. Found at archaeological sites as a sign of human habitation and industry

Bowl gallery

Galleries showing a cross section of works