There has been an enormous development in my painting over the last 20 years. Initially I had a strong interest in drawing and painting the human figure which was no doubt a direct result of my formal art studies. At the time, I felt instinctively that learning to draw well and to compose pictorial space confidently was the right approach on which to base my future. However, I was never quite happy with what was actually being expressed – and so started the long search to develop a pictorial language of my own: one that could express my innermost feelings and act as a vehicle for continual self-expression. And this is how I have gone on, drawing frequently from my observations of life and filling sketch books copiously – my visual diary, if you like.

I think the only way to describe my work and outlook is expressionistic. Everything I do as an artist is simply a reflection of my own life and interests. I particularly enjoy and need short bursts of intensive travel – overseas or within Australia. These trips have provided me with a great source of visual stimulus and in effect are very much part of my working process.

The desire to travel probably stemmed as much from the fact that I had always thought of myself as more European that Australian, as from an obvious desire to see the great galleries of Europe and the U.K. so as to study the masters first hand.

My parents had migrated from Eastern Europe and so, not surprisingly, I felt more of an allegiance to the Jewish and European traditions in which I had been raised.

My first overseas trip to Europe in 1975-76 changed my attitude dramatically. I felt totally disorientated and very alien. I was lonely and deflated. I simply did not belong – surprisingly, I was deeply homesick.

Of course with time the people and places I visited assumed a normality, yet a certain surreal quality manifested itself in my work from then on, for example the painting Blue Heads in Conversation painted in 1977, where I dispensed with the need to paint human bodies and concentrated only on the heads.

This first outside assault on my senses taught me to absorb and use my travel experiences to enrich my paintings and everyday life.

I like working in Australia because I feel I can concentrate on my work here. there is not the constant distraction and press of large populations. The Australian light is yet another factor that directly affects my work – this realisation surprised me but it became apparent as I steadily increased the range of my palette. There was a subdued quality in my European inspired work – for example, Pelican Conversation, painted in 1978 – that has never really reappeared since.

In 1981 my wife and I decided to go to Asia for 3 months and once again quite a change appeared in my imagery and composition. The cultural mystic and magic of Java made the biggest impact. The feeling of everything being in a state of flux contrasted strangely with my earlier impressions of Europe. I was struck by the timelessness of the Asian experience and their respect for the natural order of life. I think this reflected in Poetry Reading in the Night Sky, painted in 1983.

When we decided to visit Japan in 1984, we once again decided to go for 3 months. We knew if we were to travel and work with ease there we would first have to prepare properly. So for 9 months before leaving, I attempted to learn the rudiments of the language and culture. For reasons of sheer economics, it was also necessary to familiarise myself with the transport and accommodation systems. I’m certain it made all the difference in gaining a genuine impression of the fabric of that society. It also made extensive travel quite straight forward.

The obsessive orderliness of Japan was unlike much of the rest of Asia. In fact, Japan appeared culturally very closed in on itself. Despite its massive technical advances, beneath the surface it still seemed a feudal society catapulted into the twenty-first century. And it was this as much as anything that interested me.

The animism of the Shinto religion was another highlight. I particularly enjoyed visiting these temples and seeing the relationship this religion had to everyday life. It was particularly evident in the stylised rituals of sumo wrestling (a sport I became an avid fan of), the elaborate ikebana displays at country train stations and the delightful masses of origami birds that bring good luck.

The work from this period was tightly composed, colours being used tonally. For the first time, I began to use black as a dominant colour. It is interesting to look at the bright blues, pinks and yellows of the completed work just before leaving for Japan, paintings such as Spring Day in Blue and Yellow, and Life with Louis #2, both painted in 1984. In the last few years I have returned to this brightly coloured palette, very much a reflection of my life and what I wish to offer people looking at my paintings – joy, love, pleasure and humour. I want to convey an optimistic feeling and I suppose I like to use mainly animals because they appear to be unselfconscious and have an honesty, humour and earthy sanity that I can warm to.

My most recent work is a culmination of associations I feel between the animate and the inanimate worlds and a certain realisation of my own senses.

The paintings were precipitated by spending some time minding a small farmlet for a friend in the spring of 1986. There was teeming life everywhere I looked. The animals and birds possessed a joy and optimism that I couldn’t help but be affected by. Out of this came images and colours for works such as Animal Love Poems, A Love made in Heaven, Country Life, The Secret, Spring Extravaganza, etc.

In the final analysis I suppose I am the product of a fermentation of different cultures. I have followed my instincts in my approach to life and my work and I hope to continue in this way.