Still Life With Teddy

Painting the figure has become an endless fascination for me.  I just seem to enjoy painting people. But when you think about it , it doesn't seem a surprise, surely it has to be more interesting than painting a fruit bowl or a car park.  Most recently, I have been working on a series of paintings of people jumping, twisting or flipping.   It has been exciting to discover the beautiful shapes and forms that the body makes while in extreme poses and find they can be powerful yet surprisingly graceful, peaceful and serene. My intention is to capture the life and energy in the body while it is frozen in motion. I invite the viewer to experience the quiet intensity of the body while functioning at its peak.

Photographs are the starting point. They are used to capture and study the fleeting details and the amazing architecture of the body. I  have a realistic style but I want it to be more natural and organic than slick and polished as I feel this is more in keeping with the subject - people.

I continue to explore techniques of painting skin. Rather than smooth flesh with soft contours my aim is to suggest all the layers, roughness or even the history of the flesh.  Sometimes while out in public I catch myself looking intentley at a strangers skin colours, textures or folds, as if I am somehow downloading the information.  I do try to be descrete.