My canvas evolves with no pre-conceived idea of what the end result will be. However, there will be a starting point; an idea, a feeling, a colour or shape, could also serve as a point of departure. This process runs a fine line of success and creates an unpredictable tension between the conscious and subconscious that is only resolved at it's conclusion.

I attempt to create marks that are authentic, honest and organic from either the brush or a less conventional tool. The intention is always to strive for a pure essence of abstraction and to explore the limitless possibilities the art-form has to offer.

In my commercial art background, colour palettes are formal and have to be justified. The luxury of complete freedom in the abstract form is what inspires me. Ideas are expressed through the language of colour, composition, form and texture. My large scale canvases of encaustic wax sweeps and layering of fragmented dripping washes are the culmination of a lifetime of creative vocation.

I studied graphic design in New Zealand and art at the Brera Art Academy in Milan, Italy. The pursuit of a creative life started at an early age. Growing up in a small coastal New Zealand town in the early 1980s, inspiration was all around me. The volcanic land and seascapes, the natural beauty of the countryside and the tribal art of indigenous Maori all had an influence. An art teacher exposed me to local masters such as, Philip Clairmont, Bill Hammond and Colin McCahon. This spurred my development along with international masters, David Hockney and Andy Warhol whose use of colour combinations is fearless.

A recent visit to Vienna exposed me to Miro` at the Albertina Museum. I was taken aback at the force, simplicity and gravity of his mark-making and contemporary vision. I was drawn into the canvases and in awe of those intensly powerful, primal and innovative images of their time.

I draw inspiration from the mid-twentieth century New York school of abstract expressionists, Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Hans Hoffman, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, and Cy Ywombly. Australian artists, Sally Gabori, Sam Holt, Waldemar Kolbusz, Anthony Lister, John Olson, Peter Sharp and Brett Whitely are also strong influences.