The works from the 'Ardour' series above celebrate gesture; a trace of movement through space, motion to express thought, embodied marks frozen in matter. Each individual work has a history of 10 or more completed works until the lines and their movements synchronise into some kind of intuited whole. I work with the fluidity, viscosity, opacity and transparency of paint, a variety of mark-making tools that I have designed myself and the effects of chance, control and overall intent. I keep going until a find a spatial balance; a sense of ordered freedom, a unified variety of rhythms and streams. The use of gold underpainting is intended to add an intensity to interactivity, a catching of light when moving past the work. I have considered gold since my years in Japan and the way it was traditionally used to great effect to create mysterious illumination from shadowy alcoves in homes. These works are intended to be seen in rooms where changing light conditions fire up the work and make the calligraphic strokes blaze. Energy, passion, fervour, intensity, ardour. These are the ideas that have fuelled this work in order to materialize and fix an unfolding painterly event.