An original idea, if there is such a thing, and storytelling are what I seek to achieve. I am selfish when painting. It is all for me. Emotional, cathartic, difficult, sometimes joyful. It’s none of your business. If I’m satisfied, then I’m satisfied. Then, and only then do I want others to engage – good is good, bad is good, but neutral is awful. It becomes no longer any of my business save that I love it when people want to talk to me about it. I have been resistant to Artist Statements. It’s as if there is a blueprint, a formula, a setconstruction. I could make a go of it to appease, to use words like, ephemeral, light, floating, transcendent but it would be dishonest. I know only what I go through – a constant battle between doubt and intuition. Boringly I admit to tens of thousands of decisionsbelieving only one is right, but wonderfully with rare moments of abandonment and flow. In a well-meaning (genuinely) but ignorant (genuinely) way people say it must be a lovely hobby. It’s not. It can be lovely but for me I know of the plagues of insecurity. I do it because I yearn for it, live it, and yes love it. I am self-taught in art and, I suppose, poetry. I had not entered art prizes but have vowed to now do so, overcoming scepticism, or perhaps insecurity. Until the last few months I have not been represented by any galleries although I have held many exhibitions at galleries primarily in Adelaide also one each in Melbourne and Hongkong. Now, as mentioned above I am represented and have association in Melbourne, Brisbane, Noosa and Bangalow. In Brisbane and Bangalow, I am contractually bound to be exclusive within 70kms. Perhaps I am an outsider artist, certainly abstract and figurative. I began painting when I became the sole parent of my daughters and at that time, I was a lawyer. This was twenty years ago, and necessarily only part time. Ten years ago, I sought to become a full time artist,but managed to waste the first 5 years to addiction. I have since been sober and productive. I strive for new ideas. I struggle to find an idea, then paint a series, abandon the idea and start the process again. Popular and expensive can be dirty words in the art world, suggesting a lack of artistic importance. So be it. I paint to satisfy my needs. I am unashamed if it quite often engages others. To me my work is important. For better or worse I have until now largely confined my painting to Adelaide. Raising my daughters as a sole parent while (then) running my own law firm led somewhat to that constraint. Whilst I have sold in Europe and Asia, by and large my market has been Adelaide. In my approximate 12 years as a productive artist, I have sold (sometimes donated) over 450 paintings, by local standards at high prices, ranging from $1500 for small paper works to $13500 for large canvasses. I estimate that I have sold or donated over $1.5 million in art. I wish I knew where the money has gone, school fees I suppose! Whilst I have had sole exhibitions at many local the galleries tend to; I have in recent years run my own exhibitions as the local galleries add little to my own following and publicity. Also, over the years, my advances to some local galleries have been rejected.