Notes
Painting on wood is very different from painting on canvas. The wood doesn’t give, it resists; it’s hard and so can take a lot more abuse, which paradoxically leads to something far more tender, the soothing rotating application of oil to the freshly sanded surface. This rhythmic exploration serves to render a familiarity with the wood. An organic material perhaps long severed from its initial source as a tree, it’s history is still present in its radiating grain. The oils are also organic and when mixed with linseed become smooth and warm to the touch, flowing easily, leaving traces of the passage of the fingers pressure. These patterns suggest forms and the design process begins. The receptive eye discerns emerging imagery; here is the juncture of materials and art, the transformation of paint into something imagined. We must trust the paints ability to point the way, be it whimsical or profound. The ride is mercurial, the ebb and flow requires an abiding faith in the creative process. ‘Aquatic Flow’ is the outcome of this method, a watercourse way following a stream of swirling currents that surge and curl into tendrils of seaweed from which appear sea creatures, both real and imagined. The compositions flux spirals this way and that but remain contained by the two door panels, generating a circulating pattern that is dynamically charged.
