Who, What, Where, and When?

These are the most asked questions of an artist. Who inspires you? What drew you to abstract art? Where did you learn to paint? And... When did you start painting full time?

These questions can take on many different variations like... Who would you like to meet in the history of art? What other areas of art have you worked in? Where would you like to see your art hanging? When is a painting finished?

But it all boils down to people want to get to know the artist behind the art. So I'll pick a couple of my favourite questions and hopefully you'll get to know me and my art a wee bit better.

Who are your biggest influences? I've been influenced but the Abstract Expressionist artists right from the first time I was introduced to the movement. Abstract art engages my brain. It doesn't just show me the world, it make me think about it. In a gallery you will see me looking very closely at famous paintings like a Turner and enjoying the 2" square where I see an amazing abstract painting.

What does your work aim to say? My work is a reflection of my surroundings and my place in those surroundings. I'm not attempting to replicate what I see but more often I'm expressing HOW I see my environment and HOW I feel about it.

Where did you study art? I studied fine art at York University but I feel like my studies never finished. Every day I'm seeing art from different perspectives and learning more and more about techniques, expression and me.

When is a painting finished? That is one of the hardest things for many artists. My favourite computer button is "Undo", if only painters had that too. Generally it is finished just a wee bit before the artist thinks it's a wrap. The next step would be overworking the painting which naturally causes the artist to think long and hard, walk away, then stop. But the saving grace is that when we forget and mess it up... there is always another painting down the road, just not the one you had just moments ago.  We lament these loses but revel in the unpredictable path that paint takes us on. It is the joy of the process.

If you have a question, ask me.

Have a look how these two started and how they finished.