Jbay rock pool detail
The ocean and the beach never cease to inspire me. In the last week I have been released from the studio (or rather I released myself) to go off on a little surfing adventure. The images and textures and colours of this trip were wonderful – lots of shells and rocks and beach sand of many different grades – from shelly and tough on the feet to silky smooth! The eastern cape foliage and landscapes are some of my favourite in the country too! Dry and harsh and barren but the colours really speak to me. They are beautiful in an understated and raw way. That’s something to capture in my work – beauty which is raw and rough.
Surfing and making art are two vital threads in my existence. After a week of intense surfing like this I begin to focus a lot more on the essence of catching waves and I have some to the conclusion that art and surfing are far more intertwined than I thought. They are both all about going for it – if you hesitate in the water you are toast. With my art it’s the same – you just have to keep going, take the plunge and don’t think too hard (but never forget to concentrate) or everything looks terribly contrived. Surfing is also about feeling and intuition about knowing when to go and when to hold back. Great art is like that too!
