Every once in a while I produce a piece of art from the most bizarre of circumstances – often drawing on thoughts and actions that are completely dissociated with the process of creating. 
Westway is such a piece, having started life as a completely different kind of painting. It was at this point, where I became unhappy with the boring wasteland of paint I was looking at and decided to start again – this time concentrating on a different kind of paint. What initially began life as a quiet acrylic based montage soon erupted in this action-packed monster. 
The previous incarnation was hastily covered up in red and a mixture of very subtle undertones of maroon and black. There was a profusion of purples in the original composition so I decided to keep that in the new revision. What happened next isn’t exactly clear.
I can recall mixing the colurs for this piece but that’s about it. I genuinely cannot remember the process of painting this, I know I looked at a large red expanse of canvas for an eternity before finally deciding to do something but after that it becomes a blur. This happens a lot to me – I go beyond a place where I can consciously think about where I am and what I am doing – to a state of no mind. It’s not by choice it just happens. Some people call it the ‘zone’ but there are many variations on the same feelings.
I often produce my most visually challenging pieces when I get lost into the painting. I can’t tell you how I was feeling or what made me do what I did with the paint – I was just there, locked in a moment, void of all worry, stress and thought. Bliss.
Jackson Pollock used to talk of this when he painted in the drip style too nut little was understood by anyone who wasn’t an artist, but then that was 60 years ago! This piece is massively inspired by Pollock’s work. The angular shape of the applications and gestures, the seamless fusion of heavy and light strokes are all typical of the style he used to work in.
Westway measures 151cm x 90cm and is painted onto a gallery grade canvas across 38mm wooden stretchers. I used acrylic base colours mixed with a super-heavy structure gel to create some really deep ridges of paint, especially near the top, and the drip applications are painted using enamel glosses normally used for painting ships and cruise liners. There are some truly outstanding shapes and forms in this painting and is sure to promote conversation wherever it is hung.
