about the artist
My work is directly influenced by my varied life experience. First and foremost by memories of my childhood. I was born and brought up in a remote area in the mountains of Kurdistan on the border between Iraq, Turkey and Syria. Here the barren and hostile winter landscape gives way to glorious spring and summertime. The people respond by dressing elaborately in beautiful hand-made and naturally dyed material like silk and velvet. Within these mountains there are Christian monasteries with cool, arched cloisters. As a child it was thrilling to hear the bells and the chanting of the monks as they echoed through the wild flower-covered valley.
Another important influence is life in West Penwith, especially the land-, sea- and sky-scapes of this magical place.
I have lived and studied in the west for many years and travelled extensively around the world through Europe, the Americas and Australia. So inevitably western art and artists have become important, if unconscious, influences. My background as a scientist has also been an influence. The highly visual shapes and the remarkable colours found in chemistry and microbiology and even the textures of corroded metals have all contributed to the way I paint.
It has been very challenging and rewarding to attempt to combine all these factors. I hope I am able to convey through my paintings how these disparate influences have been resolved.
I am a graduate of Manchester University and Falmouth College of Art.
I have travelled and lived in many part of the world but eventually settled down on a farm in West Penwith in far west of Cornwall. Here I keep animals and live and paint in my studio.
My work is always related to the process of painting rather than the image. The artwork emerges from the interaction of marks I make on the surface with the colours and textures I use. My relationship with the surface has a major influence on the way I make the work. What I paint has a lot to do with layering and finding paths inside shapes; the colour and lines describe my journeys through life. For example the journey between two very different and yet in many ways similar cultures. It is a combination of being physically in one place and with the memory of another.
Another important influence is life in West Penwith, especially the land-, sea- and sky-scapes of this magical place.
I have lived and studied in the west for many years and travelled extensively around the world through Europe, the Americas and Australia. So inevitably western art and artists have become important, if unconscious, influences. My background as a scientist has also been an influence. The highly visual shapes and the remarkable colours found in chemistry and microbiology and even the textures of corroded metals have all contributed to the way I paint.
It has been very challenging and rewarding to attempt to combine all these factors. I hope I am able to convey through my paintings how these disparate influences have been resolved.
I am a graduate of Manchester University and Falmouth College of Art.
I have travelled and lived in many part of the world but eventually settled down on a farm in West Penwith in far west of Cornwall. Here I keep animals and live and paint in my studio.
My work is always related to the process of painting rather than the image. The artwork emerges from the interaction of marks I make on the surface with the colours and textures I use. My relationship with the surface has a major influence on the way I make the work. What I paint has a lot to do with layering and finding paths inside shapes; the colour and lines describe my journeys through life. For example the journey between two very different and yet in many ways similar cultures. It is a combination of being physically in one place and with the memory of another.