Thoughts & Sketches

The ‘Being Human’ Collection – How I work…

When I begin each painting I have no idea what they will become. I empty my mind and without intent, I allow the piece to emerge. Often I am pestered by a colour until I begin to work with it. I then paint freely.*
Sometimes words come into my head which are then added. This can really change the feeling of a piece, even when the words are subsequently painted over.**
Colour plays a huge role in this work; it affects how we relate to or connect to things. We are drawn to colours for a variety of reasons and they can sometimes affect our mood, our health and our well-being.*** I am often fascinated how strongly people are attracted to or repelled by a painting simply because of the colour, sometimes even before they have considered the subject matter. The colour and vibration speak to them first.
My paintings are often built up layer upon layer, in a subconscious way, until the final image appears. What is fascinating to me is that the emotion or vibration caught in each layer often depicts the same feeling, in different ways, time after time; like the repetition of a certain behaviour cements that behaviour into our very being.
Sometimes the work has paint added, washed off, dripped on, scrapped or sandpapered. I use brushes, sticks, pencils, cotton wool, sponges – whatever is to hand, whatever I feel is required. And, on occasion, my hands; it can get massively messy!

But finally the finished image is caught – a suspended moment – strokes of paint capturing a measure of time, space and emotion. It is often raw in appearance but needs to be left to be what it is; perfect imperfection.

*I usually dowse which colour combinations to use – sometimes I am surprised by the choices, but I trust they will be the ones which are required. Hasty judgements with the mind can shackle new ways of working.
**I am fascinated by the work of Masaru Emoto, a Japanese author, who claims that human consciousness has an effect on the molecular structure of water. He claims that the written, spoken and thought word can cause these changes. Pseudoscience or yet unproven fact? Food for thought…
***Colour therapists and healers work with colour to heal and rebalance our energetic systems – also fascinating.

21st APRIL 2014

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