Two reoccurring thoughts during the trip were about ‘realism’ and ‘sacrifice’. Many of the religious images depicted sacrifices which man does in order to win favour from God. The rendering of this act in a pictorial form was usually highly symbolic and not very real. This led me to think about the idea of sacrifice in everyday life.
The type of realism that I am trying to depict in my own work is developing along the metaphysical line of Morandi rather than the historic realism of Courbet. The study of the light and colour often take priority to ‘what’ the picture depicts. My spiritual sensitivity guides my eye and my hand to create a transcendence of the material world that lies in front of me.
The aspect of sacrifice is only sub-consciously present in the action itself of painting. Getting up early in the morning, sitting and working in uncomfortable situations and working with technically difficult material is my way of ‘giving’ myself to a ritualistic act which produces healthy spiritual benefit for myself overall.
