Abstract
The question is “why paint?” Through the course of my study in the MA program I discovered that the answer to this, like the paintings themselves, lies within me. By exploring what it is to paint from life and the natural world, I was able to develop technical skills. As I progressed I used these skills to express a personal narrative, combining images from memory and photographs. It surprised me to discover that my real interest lies in the narrative of process, the revealing of my thoughts through the act of painting itself. I paint not to express what I see with my eyes, but to make the intangible into something real. Paintings which evolve from a subjective awareness of what it feels like to live in this world have meaning not because of what they stand for, but because of what they reveal. I paint in order to see myself, to make visible that which lies beneath the surface and to offer up a glimpse for others.