Wanderlust: Layers of Past and Paint, was the result of several intense months of work in the studio, with my family under strict instructions on when they could phone for a blether.

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It’s during this self-imposed solitary practice that doubts started to rise. These are normally two-fold with the first related thoughts of 'this isn't looking quite right' or 'this picture is beginning to fail'. This often results in the painting being concealed in a layer of paint before I take a cloth to wipe back layers, revealing a focus or detail that I can work with. If that doesn't work it will be rapidly painted over and started again.

When I am creating in the studio, I do it for myself, but eventually, the paintings have to 'grow up' and leave the studio. This is where the second phase of doubts develop, and they can't be so easily fixed/erased with a wipe of cloth dipped in turps. These paintings are a result of a need to paint but are (fundamentally) also developed from reading, thinking, seeing, feeling, and wandering.

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I question if the paintings will manage to convey all of that to the viewer and if there sufficient space left in the painting for the viewer to construct their own connections to the narrative. It is only once the paintings have left home, seeking to tell their own story, and are hanging in an exhibition space such as The Meffan that I can see if these doubts have been neutralised.

For me, the paintings trigger two conversations. The first is between myself and the work as it develops, sometimes this appears to be going well and then becomes more of a battle, before settling down -much like an adolescent. Once 'out there' the second conversation is based more hope that the picture will be able to connect to a viewer and create a dialogue with that person.