on painting
A painting is singular,there is only one of it, each one, irrespective of quality, is unique
No painting can be fully reproduced except as an illustration; on the screen or in a book you have the picture, the image, but not the painting
Paintings ultimately resist verbal description, they are not ideas, there is always something beyond
A painting is a material thing, an object, a physical presence in the world
Paintings develop over real time; where there was nothing there becomes something.
Paintings carry the story of their making with them through the build up of surface layers and pentimenti; difficulties inherent in the activity, the inevitable struggles, revisions, alterations and cancellations all contribute to the finished work
Paintings (at least the ones I like) are hand-made by the artist, thus connect to all other human hand-made things both previously and presently
Painting continues, and will continue, to persist because of the eyes and hands we have.
Paintings are the result of work, of labour
Paintings have an organic element to their growth, they are alive, not static
Painting, as with much in life, carries with it the ever present possibility of not succeeding
Painting's silent eloquence, although often drowned out ,can act as a corrective to the noisy tumult of everyday modern life
Paintings appear to exist seamlessly, as a unified whole in the present moment, paradoxically often in complete contrast to the way they are made. The painting process can sometimes be a painstaking piece by piece affair
Paintings are best seen in natural daylight. We have the freedom to move around, stay as long as we want (and to return to them)
Paintings have a compact economy of form; flat, light and (relatively) easily transportable