This painting, Artist's Table, began with the idea of creating a still life, not an actual one but an imagined one. What drew me in was the composition, colours, tone and positioning, how some things work and some don't. Even though I don't always know why, I recognise when something works and when it doesn't.
The process feels as much about subtracting as adding marks. Once the initial idea is down, it becomes a matter of adding and abstracting. The book of Pierre Bonnard's work, shown in the painting, was an inspiration. He spoke of painting until the work is resolved, and that idea stayed with me. This painting went through many changes before I felt it was complete, including the late decision to change it from landscape to portrait, removing a desk easel and replacing it with a palette knife. It was even signed in landscape before I turned it to portrait, which I felt was the stronger composition.
The work was started before a trip to Morocco. During that trip there was a tragic earthquake and many lives were lost. Although I wasn't directly affected, I wanted to mark it in some small way, so I added the Polaroid photo at the top left, showing the villa where I stayed.
For me, every painting is like a puzzle that needs resolving. I believe each one has a solution, though I don't always find it. That's both the frustrating part and also the fun part, because it keeps me searching, adjusting, questioning…tying together colour, tone and composition until the work finally feels alive. It has to reach a point where it's a creation, with an identity. Sometimes there's a narrative, but not always. This painting is purely an aesthetic work, and one I am very pleased with.