Writing about painting is pleasurable, writing about being a painter is less so. This never used to be the case. What has occurred over the last several years as I have matured as an artist has made it more essential for the work to do all the explaining.

Being an abstract painter - I prefer the word non-objective- means discussing what my work is about is much less important, or relevant, than the concepts or its realisation. I have always felt that if a painter explains too much about his work he obscures the ability of the work to speak for itself. Of course there is room for scholarly analysis and commentary, critical writing, biography. I spend a lot of time reading about art.

Landscape painting, still life, portrait painting: these and other forms of genre painting are familiar to the viewer in that they exist in a specific world; they are "out there" for all to see. My interest in, and commitment to non objective picture making is because it is internal, for the artist and the viewer. The only real reference point is the work on the wall and what happened "in here" when I made it and "in there" when you view it. If the work is successful the connection between the two should flow smoothly but evoke a complex reaction; paradoxically, that connection might also follow the reverse formula.

Almost thirty years after I left Florence, Italy as a student, having decided to become a painter, I am getting closer to successfully conveying what I want to say. Yet despite more extensive technical knowledge, creating the work is perhaps an even greater struggle.  When asked whether his experience made the big matches any easier, a famous professional tennis player said, "it's much harder than it used to be because I know all the things that can go wrong."  

The work presented on this site comprises paintings, prints, photographs and a selection of writing from the last 2-3 years.

All enquiries regarding sales or other matters may be directed to:

                                           gordonwaters@optusnet.com.au