The Still Lifes
The subjects of my still life paintings - antique bottles, preserving jars and china, coupled with old-fashioned flowers, create a feeling of nostalgia and reminiscence. Each work captures the precise detail of household items in an almost intimate setting - the extreme close-up, cropped composition and abstract quality gives the subjects an intensity and 'presence', heightened by the use of strong colour. I see these intimate portrayals of inanimate objects as having a warmth and life of their own - they become animate, and their everyday familiarity gives them their own character. The paintings are carefully crafted realist works: I take great care in constructing my pieces, always being aware of the two-dimensional nature of the canvas. While the finished work is very realist, the genesis is quite abstract.
In our fast-paced, throw away society these works take you back to a simpler and less structured time - a little oasis of peace and tranquility in the mayhem of modern life.
