Two Ways

For some while I have been aware of two distinct strains in my work. The first comes about through accident and chance, the second comes about through choice of a specific image, a readymade image if you like, a spring-board, one that prompts exploration.

Both impulses test an unknown outcome. A 'suck it and see' approach. The first relies upon experience, confidence and dexterity, the second depends upon making the right choice. I guess both impulses engage my thinking and philosophy.

I am reminded of these things when I consider, as an example, the inspiration for "The Paper Chase", which derives from a picture within a picture. I came across a an engaging colour photograph by photographer Umbertha Richeux, in which a model (the photographer herself) situates herself in front of a palatial but delipidated fire place.

Yet it was the vague framed image hanging over the mantle piece that caught my eye and prompted a new painting. So too, did a poster outside a theatre museum in Trieste. You never know where or when such inspirations will strike and this is why I have kept scrapbooks for years as part of my practice. Prompts for little journeys.

Utilizing a ready made image: "The Paper Chase (Detection at Dusk)" - oil on canvas 2026

At least one of my recent paintings utilizes an AI image (found on the internet), a reversal that I like to think is a kind of getting revenge. Revenge that is, upon the theft and assimilation of original fine art by 'Artificial Intelligence'.

By way of "accident and chance" : The Catalan Silk Scarf (2026)

The theatre museum poster by the harbour in Trieste...

"The Illusianist's Daughter" (2025) oil on canvas