Gyrfalcon I

Concept

When I paint, I’m not striving to present something that I have seen, rather, what I have thought. My paintings are not an open window for the viewer’s eye, but the viewer’s mind. my paintings create a calming atmosphere of balance and serenity - landscapes abound with mountains, streams and foliage allowing viewers to travel in their imagination.

I am interested in the sometimes complex landscapes in ancient thangka paintings. i take tiny fragments as a base to create something unique.

As well as working on paper, I use a traditional thangka frame, where the canvas is sewn onto bamboo canes and then stretched onto a wooden frame. I use rabbit skin glue as gesso which I then polish with a conch shell. This creates a smooth, glass-like surface, where you barely see the brush strokes. I like to paint with gouache, as it lends itself well to building up multi layers and is opaque.