Welcome
All of my paintings are done with watercolour and gouache on handmade Japanese papers which are very absorbent and robust. I apply many thin layers and washes of paint to build up the colour with further applications of neat opaque paint. There is no covering up in watercolour painting and I use this to create a sense of depth and layering. The technique then becomes part of the meaning of the paintings. There is a sense of stillness in the paintings but always a feeling of movement under the many layers.
I need to have no reference to objects in my paintings – the image must only have a sense of forces, patterns, states of being. Inspiration comes from different sources including many textile traditions: the Amish quilts, African printed fabrics, Persian carpets, Navajo rugs. Music, especially jazz, is also a source of inspiration.
I have recently started working on series of exploratory abstract pencil drawings with many layers of marks, erasures, smudges and more marks – a technique fairly close to the way I paint.
I find the total stillness, silence and wordlessness of painting to be completely compelling.