DR0349 Summer Promise, Ganab Namibia Painting

I am working mostly in water-soluble oil-paints with my existing supply of oil and alkyd paints occasionally used in the final stages. All work is done on artist quality canvas glued to a hardboard backing. Inspiration is Southern Africa, mainly the Namib desert and everywhere else the Good Lord causes sunshine and shadow. Subject matter has been collected from Camping trips with a camera over a period of almost 50 years and subsequently filed and referenced on the computer, with all work being done from the computer screen without any distracting bugs and elements. The original emotional reaction to the particular wonder of Creation never diminishes and remains the main inspiration, even for studio work, which in the end only produces a subjective visual experience open to the individual observer's interpretation. “ I paint what I see and not what others like to see” as Eduard Manet described our experience. Born in Namibia in 1946 I could not escape the stimulus of mostly raw nature on my doorstep and six years in Johannesburg with the national airline in a technical position did nothing to diminish this passion, resulting in a transfer back to Windhoek Namibia as a Line Station Supervisor at the first opportunity. Apart from some evening classes, I studied whatever examples of the masters I could find and Sargent, Russell Flint, Ken Howard, Richard Schmid with local masters such as Pierneef, Wenning, Gwelo Goodman, Nico Roos, Johannes Blatt and Adolph Jentsch providing the inspiration and technical examples. The defining moment was when all these influences were distilled into a personal style, influenced mainly by one's own reaction to a personal experience or as Kandinsky remarked: “ the only law for the artist must be his own inner necessity – to make visible the inner core of his own being.” Further queries can be directed at info@duraanart.com