At an early stage of my career I decided to follow the path taken by Rembrandt, Turner and Monet,  beginning with exquisitely naturalistic paintings and gradually leaving out everything inessential until my work bordered on the abstract. Well, that was the plan, anyway…

First I set out to really master realism. In the beginning I refused to use photographs, working directly from life wherever possible. Because I knew that in realism drawing is the basis of everything, I learned to draw well in a variety of mediums. Later, feeling a need to go into more detail in my paintings, I began to use photographic reference material combined with sketches or on-the-spot work.  Eventually, having become accustomed to photographs, I became a photo-realist.  I gradually built a solid career and attracted the support of corporate sponsors as well as major galleries like Everard Read. Finally, in 2002, I achieved one of my important career goals – a one-man show in a recognised European art gallery.

Up until my next one-man show in South Africa in 2003, I was well known for my highly finished realistic paintings of a variety of subjects : land- and seascapes, harbour scenes, street scenes, social scenes, portraits and so on. Since 2003 my work has changed dramatically. I’ve moved from realism to a form of abstraction. Although for the sake of brevity I refer to my “abstracts”, my current work cannot easily be categorised as either abstraction or surrealism. Like the work of Max Ernst, it has elements of both.

My abstract work itself has changed and developed. I’ve gradually progressed from miniatures in acrylic on paper to large, multilayered, heavily textured oils on canvas. The technical approach my realistic work gave birth to has carried over into my abstract/fantasy work. I build up my paintings in layers, leaving space for the unexpected, always looking forward to that magical moment when a painting begins to radiate light, and, as Paul Klee puts it, “to look back at you”. This concern with light is a common theme in all of my work.

I started my earliest experiments with abstract/fantasy painting in 1998. I’d begun by spontaneously playing around with paint and had discovered the unexpected pleasure of keeping the subject matter ambiguous and asking viewers to tell me what they saw. Treating the viewer as a participant in the process of creation opened up a whole new world for me. My paintings seemed to act as more complex equivalents of the Rorschach inkblot test, encouraging viewers to expose and examine their private obsessions.

I’d also been intrigued for a number of years by the links between painting and other arts such as music, dance, theatre and the martial arts. I’m fascinated by the multitude of ways in which the energy of life finds expression through the medium of human beings. At an early stage I became aware that fantasy painting allows me to use my sense of drama more fully, while gestural abstraction encourages me to explore painting as movement.

To begin with I did these paintings purely as a hobby. As time passed and my experiments grew in size, I realised that they would eventually have to become my mainstream work. I consulted my art dealers. They warned me that such a radical change in style would mean virtually starting over, career wise. In spite of this well-meant advice I persisted in my new direction, driven by a deep inner conviction that this was what I had to do. In time I discovered new markets for my work and began to sell again.

In May 2017 I held a successful one-man show at the Cape Gallery. For the first time I showed some of my old realistic paintings alongside my abstract and fantasy work. I also showed a few of my recent experiments with a new form of representational painting which has grown out of my experience with abstraction and fantasy.  In my notes to the show I explained that since 2003 I have been on a journey of discovery, experimenting with a variety of new approaches. This exhibition was an invitation to share that journey. The public responded enthusiastically, buying 12 paintings, including the largest and most expensive work on show. What I found particularly encouraging was that the majority of the works sold were in the abstract/fantasy genre.

Since 2017 I have participated in group shows and most notably in a three-man show with Simon Jones and Peter van Straten in November 2019. Recently I’ve returned after many years to a close study of the Impressionists. I’m inspired by the possibility of working  even more directly and spontaneously while using a lighter and brighter range of colours. From time to time I work directly from nature, knowing that the secrets I learn there will feed back into my abstract work.