Artist’s Statement

There are a number of principles by which I live and work as an artist with increasing conviction. I believe in the supremacy of beauty, for me the aesthetic power of an artwork is imperative and exceedingly greater in importance than any underlying conceptual or theoretical component. This is because beauty is not merely a vehicle for meaning, but is itself meaningful, good and just. While conceptual underpinnings abound with ever greater frequency in my work (albeit subtly) I maintain that the integrity or strength of the image itself is ultimately of greatest import.

In my own work I believe that all subjects – whether landscape, still-life, figurative or architectural – must be treated equally. A truly great landscape painting, then, is no less important than a Royal portrait - because of how it is made. There really is no hierarchy of subject-matter. This is why I say it is not what you paint, it is how you paint it. Finally, it has long been my belief that the most intelligent and successful artists draw from two sources of influence, the well of history, and the fountain of modernity. The artist who ignores either may languish or stumble. Thus I study the Old Masters carefully and respectfully, while ever aware of the dangers of merely imitating the artistic ideals of a bygone era.