I have been involved in art and art education, and exhibited widely for over fifty years. I was born in the UK and went to Art School and then Teacher Training College there. I taught Art in high schools in England and New Zealand and for twelve years was a senior lecturer at Auckland University of Technology. In 1997 my wife and I came to Australia to engage in some post graduate education. I completed a MA(Hons) at the University of Western Sydney and then a Doctorate of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong.
I have pursued a tradition of abstraction throughout all of my art practice and the works presented here continue that theme. However, this series of paintings departs from my previous body of work that tended towards abstract expressionism. Instead, I have been exploring how the process of production influences the evolving artwork, particularly, removing the expressive gesture from the process of making the work.
The circular forms of the paintings are determined by the method of production rather than any conceptual considerations. There is no compositional planning for each painting; instead, each painting takes on a life of its own and my main concern is to resolve the dramas that occur within each painting. The concerns of abstraction; namely, form, shape, colour and texture are important considerations, and I am still attempting to produce a painting where all the elements combine to produce a cohesive whole. The end result is a painting that invites contemplation and engagement, offering an opportunity to escape from the busy world we all live in.