If truth be told, I find it rather difficult to define what inspires me to paint. I suppose it is an attempt to share my visual and emotional interpretation of the world as I see it. What I do understand, is that deep sense of satisfaction when I have a paint brush or pallet knife in my hand, the world is another realm from which I have temporarily removed myself and I can sometimes be very reluctant to rejoin.
Having lived on three continents – born in Ireland and grew up in South Africa - I am fairly mindful of our cultural and environmental differences, but also try to be aware of those bonds that we share no matter where we find ourselves. I am endlessly fascinated by the diversity and uniqueness of our natural world and man’s ability to adapt and/or alter. Growing up in South Africa, I was exposed to an abundance of unique habitats and cultures that were ultimately the stimulus for my artistic interests.
And so, I now find myself here in Minnesota (no, I’m NOT going to complain about the winter), and after some years, have managed to assimilate and find inspiration in this vast new country with its own particular bounty of bio-climates, changing seasons and the stark contrasts between them.
I think it is these contrasts that most interest me and influence how I approach my work. The softer natural forms of prairie grasslands, rivers and lakes. Juxtaposed with the sharp geometric lines and hard surfaces of our cities. The effect that the colour and intensity of light have upon the landscape. The muted tones of a snowy’ overcast day and the bright, intense colours of yachts sailing on a lake on a summer morning.
Recently, my interest has focused more toward the urban environs. Exploring the effects that time, culture, light, climate have on our man-made structures and surfaces.
Never satisfied, I am always fine-tuning techniques and exploring various new ways of understanding my subject matter and medium. There are infinite ways and methods of approaching the creative process and I sometimes find myself rather overwhelmed. Curiosity usually prevails and I am again eager to put paint to canvas, to translate my vision of the sometimes dramatic, sometimes ordinary.