Painting 1000

I have recently passed the milestone of my 1000th painting. Luckily I have photographed and recorded all my paintings since day one, advice I have given many young artists to follow. On reflection and interestingly, the words that come to mind are motivation, application and productivity before creativity and inspiration, all of which are needed to enable an artist to go the distance ! The writer Hilary Mantel, when asked 'do you write every day or do you wait for inspiration to come along ? replied ' What do you think I am, some kind of hobbyist?' I like this.

The production of a body of work over many years can cause introspection and isolation. Vanessa Bell summed it up in 1934 when she wrote 'words are an impure medium, far better to be born into the silent world of paint.' That's it in a nutshell really…How lucky I am !

March 2018