I am generally woken by my children Charlie and Eliza (better than an alarm clock!) at 6am, and spend the first hour or so of my day deafened by their enthusiastic chatter. We always try to sit down for a family breakfast with my wife Suzie at around 7.30. I aim to be in my studio next door by about 9.30 with that essential cup of coffee, apron on and sleeves rolled up. I look at the work from the night before and contemplate what needs to be done whilst drinking my coffee. I look down at my choice of 100 plus pastels to the right of my drawing board and go. I start my work accompanied by the radio as I like to have some background noise. Lunch is always scheduled for around 1, but by the time I've managed to tear myself away and am clean enough to sit down to eat, it tends to be nearer 2! Lunchtime is just a quick bite to eat. Once back in the studio I work through until dinner, with an afternoon visit from Suzie and the children to see how I'm getting on. We have a coffee together and a bit of a chat and then I need to be in isolation again. Dinner is generally ready at 8 but eaten at 9... Late again! Even though technically my working day is now over, I often pay a late night visit to the studio to sit and contemplate my latest piece on the easel. Then it's lights out until tomorrow.
The Creative Impulse...
I find inspiration for my painting can strike at any time, whether through my own emotional response to something, or through observing somebody else's obvious love for another person or animal. Sometimes I will hear a phrase spoken and immediately visualise a picture - I then work around that phrase and use it as a title for the finished piece. My ideas are generally spontaneous and mood driven, whether that mood was good or bad! Painting like this gives me complete fulfilment: being able to create an entirely individual and personal piece of work, from visualising the idea in my head, sketching it, painting it and finally seeing it completed gives me complete satisfaction.
5 years ago when I visited the Tate Modern I was looking at a 25 ft original by Mark Rothko and was completely mesmerised. The scale, the use of colour and the simplicity. What power! This experience provided a defining moment in my artistic journey; convincing me that less is more, it sent me down the path of simple, bold imagery painted on a large scale, to create maximum impact.
