The themes that are in essence my work are in response to the synthesis of visual imagery with the aural and optical awareness to any given environment. I do not regard my images whether painted or drawn as just paintings. They are in fact Spirituals. The themes are about the spirit within, the place, the moment, the time. There is a Zen to all things and the artist should be in tune with the fundamental elements found in and on the land, sea or heavens.

I am unashamedly controversial. I am often regarded as an abstract painter and in many ways that could describe what I am about. The artist generally abstracts the essentials to create the final or indeed the evolving image. I am not interested in the traditional concepts to compartmentalise what an artist does or to what an artist belongs. Does it matter?

It is essential that art creates response, whether pleasurably or not. I paint because I have to. My images are born out of spontaneous response to the scene, the underlying imagery within the thought processes or the musicality of the spiritualism whilst involved in the act of creating.

For me paint is the important issue. This can be textural. It can be the pure colour or colour derived. It can also be the linear qualities of pen and ink or increasingly in this age the abundant ink markers available. Colour can scream at you, it can caress your sensibilities, it can revolt. These attributes are equally applicable to all aspects linear and tonal.

My sketchbook can be the traditional or often the digital camera. These assist the visual and memory bank. It is rare that the landscape around you makes a picture. Often the mind needs to ‘see’ further and develop the response. The physical act of creating is usually intuitive and requires less the thought which can inhibit. The thinking through an individual work will inevitably occur either as passive reflection or long, hard thought, where I am sat equally involved as if the brush was in hand. This is where the mind conceives and ‘takes you further’ toward the point of stopping.

This point of stopping is precarious. At some point the dialogue between artist and surface comes to an impasse. At such a point the image is never revisited, although the journey begun with resolving the theme can continue along a new and vibrant road. It is for the beholder of the image to make their response and hopefully add their process of thinking and visual spark thereby concluding the statement and decide the fate of the piece.

Equally important is the ‘getting into’ the imagery before us. Can I place myself there, can the reality of feeling be as real as physics of touch and smell.

Finally, I am deeply indebted to the vast legacy of all artists who have offered to our world their vision, whether in respect of the origins of making marks, creating sound or movement.

It would be futile to list these pioneers, without offending a memory because the list would be vast. But, in human weakness I must share a few heroes to whom the creative spirit of my world, and hopefully shared with you in yours, make for me the essence of constant mentorship. These include Titian, Picasso, Graham Sutherland, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Ivon Hitchens, Patrick Heron, Dylan Thomas, W H Auden, Mozart, Beethoven, Handel, Vaughan-Williams and Tippett among a few.

Neal Anthony Carter

February 2005