Mountain Mist Print

I was born in Scotland, the son of a marine engineering/designer draughtsman employed by world renowned John Brown, the Company responsible for the building of those mighty transatlantic passenger liners Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. My maternal grandfather was a gifted artist whose consummate craftsmanship adorned, amongst other things, many churches and luxury steamships more than a century ago. My astronomical paintings were the natural outcome of a lifelong interest in this subject and my object, from the outset, was to elevate standard astronomical illustration to the level of a true art form. It is NOT my intention to depict actual cosmic phenomena but simply to express my personal celebration of the wonders and mysteries of our infinite universe. Apart from solo exhibitions in Great Britain, my work has been displayed at a number of distinguished art venues including the prestigious Royal Institute Galleries in London. My many and varied interests include the music of Sibelius, Debussy and Stravinsky, the works of Shakespeare and Dickens, philosophy, travel, photography and, most of all, the rich culture and magnificent landscape of my beloved Scotland. All of my paintings are entirely original in every way and are created spontaneously, without the vaguest notion of predetermined planning or design. In other words, the resultant works are as much a surprise to me as they are to the general viewer. Meticulous, obsessive concerns regarding originality and spontaneity resulted in my rejecting all formal art training. However, I am not arrogantly inferring that art education is without merit. Merely, that for me, it would have been an impediment to my own particular voyage of discovery and creative expression. I am contemptuous of pseudo-intellectual debate or analysis simply because the silent language of genuinely creative visual art speaks not to our intellect but to our sensibilities. Great painting, like great music or literature transcends politics and the vagaries of fashion. I particularly delight in the reaction of children to my paintings. They are so direct and honest in their judgments that approval by them is praise indeed. Entitling abstract paintings is useful only as method of identifying them. Beyond that it has little or no value and, indeed, may actually be an impediment to the virgin viewer's enjoyment and understanding. That is also why I am reluctant to attempt to EXPLAIN them.