In trying to come up with a title for this exhibition all my efforts seem to have revolved around puns on the word rule for as you will have noticed every one of these paintings relies on the ruled line. So no pun and no title but a preponderance of

straight lines.

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I recall being admonished by a rather unpleasant primary school mistress over my use of a rule to draw a picture and later, at art college, my tutor warned me of the pitfalls of an early adopted style and the restrictions it would place on my work.

I took this to heart and for many years studiously avoided the strictures of any particular ‘style’. My efforts roamed through landscape, a little portraiture and into various forms of abstraction, working in both oils and watercolour. To the point where a particular painter friend of mine on viewing my work described it as schizophrenic, which I took as a compliment although I don't think it was meant that way.

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My working life, of which my painting life has never been a part, has involved engineering, construction and architecture. My early work was in offshore oil exploration and when that ceased to engage me I gravitated to the restoration of old buildings and their conversion to new uses. My work on the architectural aspects of this led me back via the drawing board to the joys of the straight line.

I suppose about twenty years ago I decided to forget the wise words of school mistress and art college tutor and explore in depth the use of the ruled line in my painting. It certainly has its limitations but their juxtaposition and the dynamics that creates still avidly  maintain my interest.

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The pictures on show here were all created in this period, the earliest dating back to 2007 and the latest completed just months ago.