Paintings
ost artists are associated with, and remembered
for, one particular subject. Michelangelo, for
example, is as associated with the male nude as Rubens
is with the female, Stubbs is with the horse and
Fantin-Latour is with still-life, to mention just a
few.If I am remembered, I hope it will be for the
Beauty I have tried to express; not the beauty of the
work (although of course I do try) but the beauty the
work depicts. Beauty is my source of inspiration, be
it a tree, a bowl of pomegranates or a beautiful naked
girl.Of all the subjects I work with, the female nude
is my favourite, and if I paint one work that is
generally thought to be one of the loveliest nudes
ever, I would be well satisfied.
My technique most resembles that of Rubens, whom I
studied for seven years, who I believe painted the
light - the very life - of flesh better than
anyone, although during the last seven year phase of my
painting I have become a surrealist, due mainly to my
being inspired by the work of Hieronymous Bosch, the
founder of Surrealism - about five hundred years
ago! If my Surrealism happens to be somewhat more
erotic than that of Bosch, it is partly due to the
fact that I would be less likely to be hung drawn
and quartered than he for doing it, and partly due to my
love of the female form.
