John Collis

I took up painting at West Pilbarra College of TAFE in 1993 with the intention of learning to paint with watercolours but surrendered that ambition after about 2 years.

More recently I've begun to broaden my horizon and have embraced other media and techniques in my efforts to arrive at images that approach my response to the subjects that interest me.

These subjects are varied. They include mathematics, the process of painting itself( or applying pigment to any ground), the landscape and my emotional response to my environment.

These are things that really matter to me and the pictures that I make are my attempt at depicting how I feel about those subjects. There's always an intention in what I set out to do, or about the sensation I want the painting to convey. Realising, or bringing that sensation to fruition is really what all art is about. It certainly is what keeps me motivated. I paint for my own personal desire for self expression and to help me come to some kind of resolution or equilibrium. I can't sing, dance, write poetry or play an instrument so painting has become my right brain exercise.