About

• Artist Living and working in Aberfeldy, Scotland
• Studied Glasgow School of Art 1992 – 1996
• VAS Professional Member

I am trying to make paintings as objects and images. It is typically a very long process that starts with abstract forms from which images appear, discovered rather than intended from the outset. It is important for me to have the same relationship with the image as the viewer, in the sense that I have some notions about what the images mean or are “about” but it’s not fixed or certain. If I trip over the edge and the painting becomes too  self conscious it loses all its mystery. Then I start to scrape it down, dig out a new possibility from the ruins and have another go. This can go on for a very long time which feels important in itself. It’s hard to trust a painting that hasn’t extracted a lot from you before it’s done. The paintings feel like entities of their own , I’m involved in the process, they need a good dose of human in them, but it’s not simply self expression. I want paintings to be like songs –  things that go out into the world that people have a relationship with, it becomes about them and the painting, they shouldn’t be wondering about my ideas, the paintings are places for people to have their own experiences.