IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME   and   HARBOUR LIGHTS
Inspired by the Richard Diebenkorn exhibition at the Royal Academy, I began to rework two unfinished hard-edge paintings which had not been considered successful. They now demonstrate a very different kind of development from basic geometrical forms. They can be hung horizontally or vertically.

IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME   and   HARBOUR LIGHTS
Inspired by the Richard Diebenkorn exhibition at the Royal Academy, I began to rework two unfinished hard-edge paintings which had not been considered successful. They now demonstrate a very different kind of development from basic geometrical forms. They can be hung horizontally or vertically.

TOTEM 3
Although in no way descriptive, this painting is the outcome of a fascination with native American totem poles seen on several occasions.

SMALL WHITE SQUARE
The most recent and final painting in the ‘White Square’ series.

MYSTERIOUS CIRCLE
This harks back to earlier work in which the triangle, and then the circle, were the dominant shapes. It relates to the many circular forms used as symbols throughout the ages and throughout the world.

GOLDEN NUMBER
This painting relates to the symbol for ‘Golden Number 18’, which appears in medieval almanacs for calculating phases of the moon. Scandinavian in origin, the so-called ‘clog almanacs’ were based on even earlier moon calendars.

ALL’S BLUE
The title comes from Browning.  ‘I find earth not grey but rosy,  Heaven not grim but fair of view,  Do I stoop?  I pluck a posy,  Do I stand and stare?  All’s blue.

TANOSHIMI
Japanese for ‘entertainment’ or ‘amusement’. The painting refers to a busker once seen in Covent Garden, who had developed a sort of ‘juggling act involving wooden bricks.

NINEVEH
Based on a detail from an Assyrian stone carving showing labourers pulling carts in front of stylised trees and buildings. Nineveh was near the city of Mosul in present-day Iraq.

ARCHWAY 3
Loosely derived from memories of arches and architectural fragments seen in Rome and elsewhere.

PARALLEL MEANINGS 1 : DOVECOT
One of a series of paintings which are to a certain extent ambiguous and can be interpreted in different ways. It is based on an actual dovecot, but could be seen as a strange road-sign warning of multiple tunnels ahead!

MAHARAJAH’S WELL
A result of genealogical research. A well was presented to the inhabitants of Stoke Row in Buckinghamshire, my English grandmother’s birthplace, by the Maharajah of Benares in 1836. The Maharajah had become friendly with the British Commissioner, who told him of the hardships faced by villagers back home during the dry seasons.

SKANSEN 2
Skansen is an open-air museum in Stockholm where old buildings from all over Sweden have been reconstructed. This painting is based on one particular example.

OLD KINGDOM
A painting which began by using the triangle as a basic motif. As it progressed it began to suggest an Egyptian pyramid so that idea was developed further. The cloud shapes set it in place with the horizon below. Nevertheless it remains basically an abstract composition in orange and brown.

TEKONA and TOKAIDO
In a country prone to earthquakes , many small Japanese buildings have not been made to last, and these paintings are concerned with the flimsy nature of their construction. I found the simplicity and transparency particularly attractive.

TEKONA and TOKAIDO
In a country prone to earthquakes , many small Japanese buildings have not been made to last, and these paintings are concerned with the flimsy nature of their construction. I found the simplicity and transparency particularly attractive.

HOUSE OF TORTOISES
A Mayan building which takes its name from the tortoises carved in relief on the upper cornice. The painting eliminates such details and concentrates on the basic proportions.

TIME PRESENT and TIME PAST
While in Japan, along with some ceramic pots, I bought a section of bamboo intended as a vase. When I got home, to my dismay, I found it had split from top to bottom. It made me think of the sudden devastation which had befallen Hiroshima and Nagasaki all those years before. The title is taken from T.S.Eliot’s ‘Four Quartets’.

WARI
The starting point for this painting was the green shape, which occurs within the repeat pattern of a textile woven in the Peruvian War style. Weaving techniques in the ancient Andes varied from region to region.

FENESTRA
Fenestra is Latin for window. Although this arrangement began as a doorway, the section on the right began to look like glass. It became an example of painting taking on a life of its own.

SINGING THE BLUES
A celebration of the colour blue, with all its historical associations, and the powerful effect it can exert on the senses.

INVERSION
The title refers to the fact that this purely abstract composition was at some stage turned upside down!

WAREHOUSE
A simple arrangement based on an actual warehouse in Kent, which had features common to many such industrial buildings.

STUDY IN RED
Red, in addition to blue, in all its variations, can be a colour with a special meaning for many people.

HONG KONG TRAM
This tram was actually seen and photographed in Kowloon. It made me reflect on the bus routes in London, the most familiar numbers of which are associated with particular places and memories.  (For me, 73 and 88).

IRIGUCHI
‘Entrance’. This painting was originally inspired by the dovecot at Kentwell Hall, a restored Elizabethan manor house in the Suffolk countryside - one of the most atmospheric stately homes I have ever visited. The layout went through so many changes it bears little resemblance to the original subject.

KIIRO and KOSEI
Kiiro is Japanese for yellow. Kosei means individuality, and with an accent on the ‘o’ it can mean composition. I find certain words in other languages fascinating, and often use them as titles. Together with ‘White Square’ and ‘White Square 2’ these small paintings are a response to the enormous geometrical works of the recent past which often seemed to rely entirely on scale for their effect.

KIIRO and KOSEI
Kiiro is Japanese for yellow. Kosei means individuality, and with an accent on the ‘o’ it can mean composition. I find certain words in other languages fascinating, and often use them as titles. Together with ‘White Square’ and ‘White Square 2’ these small paintings are a response to the enormous geometrical works of the recent past which often seemed to rely entirely on scale for their effect.

SPADE MONEY
A coin used in China between around 1050 and 250 BC. They came in a variety of shapes based on spades and tools which had earlier been used to barter for other goods. This one is an example seen in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

UCHIKAKE
A traditional Japanese wedding dress from the Middle Edo period. They were sometimes decorated with poems.

OSTIUM
One of several paintings based on doorways, the recurrent theme being ‘What lies Beyond’.

HIMEJI
Himeji is the name of a castle in the city of Kyoto, which belonged to a famous war-lord and was rebuilt around 1600. The painting is based on the structure of a room featuring massive horizontal and vertical beams.