Franz Josef 2 Painting

While I have dabbled in art since my early 20s, I have only now, in retirement, been able to devote myself to it passionately. I am fortunate to have found studio space in northwest London, which has helped unleash my creative potential, enabling me also to work on some large installations. I was born in Zimbabwe, moving at age 10 to Cape Town in South Africa where I lived until I moved to the UK in my mid 20s. I had an intensely creative period from 1976 until 1980, but a career in engineering combined with bringing up three children meant that I had little time or space to pursue art. In retirement I have rekindled my love affair with art and am enjoying it immensely. I would define myself essentially as an abstract artist, a colourist, with particular focus on the pop art and optical art genres. I am currently creating what, I believe, are unique installations using spent laughing gas canisters. These small steel canisters contain nitrous oxide and are used amongst young people as a recreational drug, a means of obtaining a legal high. I now have a team of canister pickers, both friends and street cleaners, who pick up canisters for me from gutters, parks and car parks. So far I have incorporated more than 20,00 canisters in my art installations which means that more than half a ton of steel has been saved from landfill. I continue to work with oil on canvas, and have recently started using acrylics on wood and handmade paper. I view abstract art from the perspective of whether it is visually pleasing to me personally, and whether I would like to see it on my wall, rather than analysing the meaning. My inspiration has come largely from early 20th century artists such as Picasso, Miro, Klee, Kandinsky, Chagall and Modigliani, and more recently from artists such as Hockney, Basquiat and Johns. I particularly admire the work of recently deceased artist Gillian Ayres RA, who made a point of only being interested in colours and shapes, rather than trying to achieve a meaning. She simply had fun painting and embraced colour in a very special way.