Skullerful.

I started painting skulls as a subject almost 15 years ago. I'd painted for most of my life... but I noticed when I started painting skull that it opened a dialog with people. People don't really talk about other art like they do about skulls, like a landscape for example. It isn't always necessarily positive talk but they seem to have something to say, an opinion or a story to share - which I found fascinating in itself.

No one seems to talk much about death even though no one escapes it, and the beliefs, customs and spirits. I've learnt a lot from painting skulls as a result of it.

When I started to hear people open up about life and about death. It seemed to intrigue some and spook others. That saying that "art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" seemed to really apply to skulls.

Colour is important with skulls so I try to keep them light & cheery, it's when you make them dark that they become morbid. I was originally inspired by Mexican Folk Art, Sugar Skulls & The Day Of The Dead (Dia De Los Muertos). I love how the Mexicans celebrate their ancestors during this holiday with art and colour.

My first international sale was a 1.8 meter sugar skull that used to sit above a fireplace at a local bar. It was purchased my another bar owner and shipped to a Mexican venue in Queenstown, New Zealand.

I don't think my skull days are quite over, I am yet to try one in oil. So far they are all acrylic artworks.