One constant in my painting is the diversity of approaches and even genres. Far from being evidence of one lacking focus in the studio this indicates a constant need for challenge and also my own part in the age old quest for unity in diversity.
Furthermore, this evolution in style and fusion of genres is in fact an endless striving to learn, while never content to presume that I have arrived. The more I know and learn, the more humbled I am, realizing that I am ever the student, and in this journey one never truly arrives, each painting is merely a stop along the way. There are a number of guiding principles by which I live and work as an artist.
I believe in the supremacy of beauty; for me the aesthetic power of an artwork is more important than any underlying conceptual or theoretical component.
This is because beauty is not merely a vehicle for meaning, but is itself meaningful, good and just. While conceptual underpinnings may abound in some of my work I maintain that the integrity or strength of the image itself is of greater importance.
In my own work I believe that all subjects are equally worthy. A truly great landscape painting, then, is no less important than a Royal portrait-because of how it is made.
There is no hierarchy of subject-matter. This is why I say it is not what you paint, it is how you paint it. It has also long been my belief that the most intelligent and successful artists draw from two sources of influence, the well of history, and the fountain of modernity.
The artist who ignores either may languish or stumble.
This is why I study both carefully and respectfully, ever aware of the dangers of merely imitating the artistic ideals of a bygone era. ~ Bruno Capolongo