Scroll down to view a chronological survey, from 1966 to 2008. Most works are representative of a larger group of paintings mediated through similar formal processes. As well as being primarily concerned with colour as an element of painting, they are abstract responses to a particular moment of time. The transitions that take place from one work or group to another are usually gradual, as each suggests more than one possible avenue for the next to take. There have been instances of sudden change in my conceptual viewpoint, and some may be evident in this overview.

 

The influence of abstract expressionism, colour field and minimalism is evident in the earliest paintings. This gave way in the mid-seventies to an intuitive, spontaneous, and visceral way of working that more directly engaged with my life in the world – relationship to the land, the forces of nature, and a broader and deeper expression of thought and emotion. In the eighties these works gradually shifted into more cerebral and minimalist explorations of colour and gestural form. Over time these works became more horizontal and vertical in orientation.

 

Although the grid had always been more or less there as the supporting form for colour, in the early nineties I decided to more directly engage the simple orthogonal grid, wanting to focus more attention on colour’s potential for expression. The 1990 debacle over the National Gallery of Canada’s purchase of Barnet Newman’s The Voice of Fire confirmed my desire to remain true to the notion of the essentials of painting with which I had begun my journey as an artist. The long period of working with the simple grid has opened an endless number of new avenues. I continue to explore some of them.