I’ve taken photographs on a regular basis since 2007. I’ve taken over 12,000 just in the four years, I’ve lived in Wales. With such a huge collection of photos, I noticed just how many shots I’d taken that wouldn’t actually make good photos. Then I figured out why.
Once I started painting again I realised: I’ve been subconsciously ‘cataloguing’ all the beauty I see in the world. Whether it’s the texture of an old stone wall, the way a patch of light falls on farmland at sunset or simply billowing clouds against a blue sky.
Those numerous, seemingly random snaps – they’ve all been part of my artistic process. That phone-camera snap of a winter sunset over an out-of-town retail park is never going to be a great photo, but elements of it will. I can mix and match to create my own vision in paint.
Over all these years taking photos I haven’t just seen the world with the aim of producing an effective photograph, I’ve had my desire to produce art simmering away behind it all. Hibernating, incubating. Just waiting for me to do something about it. I’ve been capturing, collecting and cataloguing potential. All this time I’ve been building a cache of ideas and the best thing is they all come from what I’ve seen with my own eyes.
Now I find myself in the position of needing to paint, I have absolutely no shortage of ideas and source material. If anything I have an overabundance and the tricky part is knowing where to start!
