Education:

1974-1986: All sorts of good stuff from my mum, the artistJ

1990-1992: Art & Design – Southwest college of TAFE, Bunbury, Western Australia

Other:

Founder of “Gallery Forrest – Shadeshape & Finearts”

Co-founder of “Paradis Studios”

Co-founder of “Tilsammans”

A little about me:

I am an Australian artist currently living in Bergen, Norway.

Most of my upbringing was spent on the Southwest coast of Western Australia.

My mother was an artist and teacher, and ensured a creative childhood environment. When we weren’t painting or sculpting, my sister and I were kept occupied with excursions and science projects.

Being a worldly person, she was disposed to bestow in us an awareness of the world beyond our gate, and at the age of 6, took us backpacking on a 3 month tour of Europe, visiting all the major museums and art galleries. The experiences and impressions from this trip were eye opening, and greatly influenced my appreciation for European art and culture.

I don’t remember ever not drawing or painting, but it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I started taking it more seriously, working on larger formats (240×120 particle boards) and exploring alternative mediums. I developed an interest for airbrushing, though missed the texture and imperfections of brushwork. I started combining the two techniques, and at 17, won 3 first prizes in a regional art competition with my “H.R.Giger” influenced impressions of the mother Mary.

As an early adolescent, I diverted from my path and went to work in the gold mines of Western Australia. This was a very dark, yet mind opening period of isolation and self exploration. I continued painting in my 2×3 living quarters, and ultimately, painting became my salvation. I started painting my dreams and after 2 years of depression, managed to paint a landscape of my future home (a house in the mountains of a faraway place), moved back to the coast and enrolled in art classes again.

Shortly after this I met and fell in love with a Norwegian girl. In the late 90′s we travelled Europe, moved to Norway, married and settled down. We bought her childhood home, nestled in the mountains of Bergen.. and added an atelier.

Moving to the other side of the world gave me distance to reflect on life, and through an extensive search for answers to ungraspable questions, was led to a fascination for quantum physics. A lot of my work since coming here, subtly references the fundamental patterns at work in our lives, and their influence on them. Making sense of these seemingly cold micro events within the fluidity of the macro world around us can be an exhausting task, and these paintings usually go hand in hand with periods of frustration. As an antidote, I often revert to my love of light and form.

I have been admiring the old rotting farm houses and industrial buildings around Bergen and am currently finding inspiration in the dauntingly beautiful process of decay.  It is a Phenomenon that we can all relate to, though rarely consider. The same patterns that rot a house away, are at work, slowly decomposing religions, societies, loved ones. We say goodbye or replace them with something new. Evolve, move on and let go. Though ultimately, the entire universe is not exempt from this rule.