A small watercolour set travelled with me for many years, to Hong Kong, New Zealand and China. Now, I am also exploring acrylics, and the works of the Impressionists, Fauvists and Cubists. Their use of stronger colours and more abstract compositions inspire my creativity.
I like developing an image with a twist in my paintings, like what would Modigliani’s cat look like, or Picasso’s, or Matisse’s? Can an ordinary highway interchange really look like a goddess when seen from an airplane? What if animals had human eyes? Would we treat them differently? Would they be humanized?
Egyptian hieroglyphs, cave paintings and their mysterious symbols, the Kabbalah Tree of Life, and ancient Chinese characters have fascinated me throughout my life. Is there a sub-conscious stream that we all share, that connects us to the past and across cultures?
Photography was my first creative expression and in 1990, a desire to retrace Marco Polo’s journey from Venice to Xi’an, inspired me to travel across Soviet Union, Mongolia and China with 70 rolls of film and 15 lbs of camera equipment. I still shoot probably a couple dozen photos a week, so my back was pleased to see the arrival of the digital age. Now, though, I use photos more to document aspects of a scene, or a cat’s expression that I want to remember, possibly to develop into a future painting. I enjoy hiking in the mountains, exploring trails and watch the shifting light on trees and water. In good and bad weather, there is always a view to record, whether it is sunlight on a mountain, or a seagull looking for a wayward french fry.
