I started painting in 2011 when I quit my day job. Don’t they tell you not to quit your day job?
I didn’t listen to a lot of other things. Like the part about using brushes. I paint with my fingers instead. (Fine art finger painting!)
Mucking about right in the paint with my fingers and palms makes my relationship with the subject matter deeply intimate. Exploring the nooks and planes and lovely lines of bodies and nature is like going on a treasure hunt, looking for the precious and the mysterious, the rich information that tells both creator and viewer something essential. Like, this here is where new ferns come in the spring; this here is where her skin is most tender.
My artistic influences and techniques result in an expressionist style. I am moved by the lushness of Gustav Klimt, the boldness of Joanne Corno (two of my favourite artists). Painting with my hands means abandonning realism and embracing representation. My compositions are held together by strong shapes, exaggerated contrast, blocks of colour, bold lines, and simple palettes.
Painting is my meagre attempt to interpret the wonder and crash of what’s around us, and to hold it for maybe one moment, and to say to anyone who would listen, this is gorgeous, this is important.
