The Shapes of Paintings

I recently completed this painting. My gradual unconscious interest in wave-like forms in my paintings started with my reflections on the ocean as a metaphor for universal consciousness; with you and I and all other sentient beings as waves on the ocean. Existing for a short while and passing. Each wave unique. Waves may die but the ocean lives forever. We're part of something that never dies. Nice. I can now die happily ever after, as Bob Dylan sang. So I photographed it, as one does, and thoughts turned to the next painting. Overall, I'm satisfied with the result but there was one part of it that my eye kept returning to. Something irritating. Time has taught me that it's worth investing the time to get it right. A painting can last a long time. This was the issue: I'm not excessively fussy and I know that it could grow on me in time but this really failed the good egg / bad egg test. I tried a few solutions out digitally: None satisfied. I resig

In 1977 I was 13 and my art teacher Mr Davis (it might have been Davies, but I prefer this spelling) was about to retire. He was short, stout, had a flame-red crew cut and neat beard. Smart casual at all times, he wore polyester slacks and casual tan shoes. If he was around now he would probably be a Leave voter. I rarely heard him speak. In two years he had barely spoken to me except to tell me to get my hands out of my pockets.   It was his last day and I’d dashed off a drawing of a horse and rider in minutes. On seeing my sorry effort he went a beetroot colour and made me stay behind to do it again. Fuming as my mates filed out for lunch, I set to work. Thirty minutes later I took the finished drawing up to him and asked if I could go.  He nodded approvingly. “This is really good, son.” Looking at me earnestly he continued, “You’ve got talent. Never stop making art. Your future starts when you wake up every morning. Seize each and every day and find something creative to do. Mak

January, 2017. I hadn't painted in a while. Out of nowhere, I felt a strong urge to capture an idea that had been gnawing at me for a while. I bought a ready-made canvas 38 x 30 inches. There was a high level plan in terms of what the finished painting would look like but each mark would be unplanned. Improvised. To paraphrase a phrase, the idea would be taken for a walk. Painted flat, on a table top, probably whilst wearing a flat cap, this is where that walk ended up: It reminded me of a painting, I'd done about ten years earlier. Later that month I stuck two sheets of paper on the back of a table tennis table and did this drawing. You might be able to discern that the drawing comprises about 4 cut out elements stuck together collage-like: ..which later grew into.. I thought the drawing actually might have been more satisfying if it hadn't been confined to a square. I simplified the idea and did this digital drawing: In February I bought a s