"FALL REFLECTED" Painting

Over a decade ago I painted a series of The Four Elements. Over time, my paintings have shifted to focus more on water. I spend much time in, on or near water. In Cape Town, South Africa it is the Indian and Atlantic Oceans that inspire me and in Canada it is the many beautiful rivers and Great Lakes. Here I observe the interplay between light and water, water and sky. It is mesmerizing. It is brilliantly beautiful. The ebb and flow of water provides me with a continuously changing picture. I observe what happens on its surface, how it varies, how light plays on it, how its moods change. I make use of reflection to abstract or distort reality. It is through the water that recognizable objects become transmuted. There is a transformation that occurs and new objects and shapes appear. Something is born in the water, something greater than the sum of its parts. This particular style is difficult to define, but I would call abstracted realism. Abstracted because the work is not merely an attempt to depict a real life object, but its main concern is with colours, lines, shapes and rhythms that combine to form the work. What is important with this style of painting is the emotions elicited by the object. Through this style I hope to stimulate in the viewer an awareness of different levels of reality and of being. Water becomes the medium of consciousness. Is it water or is it sky? Are you seeing what is above or what is below? Or are you seeing something entirely new? The object is no longer what it originally was (a fish, a tree, water or sky), but has become something weird and wonderful. You, as viewer, play a very important role in this transformation because it is through your creative vision that the image is set free to become magical. It is my intention to create beautifully crafted and highly detailed art works. The quality to which I aspire, is not only one of technical excellence, but also one of emotional elevation. I hope that those who view my work and choose to live with it will experience enrichment. My art is a celebration of life. Please celebrate with me.