Open Heart Drawing

Natural forms are the main focus of my most recent work, in particular the complex structure of one particular old olive tree that caught my attention a few years ago. I have been investigating her labyrinth of branches and truncations, her many textures and dark hollows in colour pencil and charcoal drawings, using also watercolour, print and pen and ink. Initially the work was mainly about understanding the many intertwined layers and wide array of textures. Though fairly literal, those early works have been an essential part of my process towards abstractions that I am currently working on as a way of distilling the essence of my synergistic relationship with this tree. Over time, the tree has taken on the role of my alter ego. Working with her has become the springboard for a new series of work on my family tree in honour of my ancestors and their wanderings around the globe. As a child in Africa I was able to spend my days in close contact with the earth and the sea, and continue to be fascinated by all that our natural world has to offer us. Art would have been my first choice of career had that route not been blocked to me very early on, but fortune favoured me when I was in my 40s, and found me a mentor who championed my dire early efforts. His encouragement put the wind under my wings and set me soaring. Now each time I start a new piece or a new series I am embarking on a new voyage of discovery. and each voyage brings me back to 'home.' It is a wandering and a wondering.