PAUL BATTAMS

CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT PAINTINGS

"After prolonged bouts of anguish, torment and pacing up and down the studio,

excitement starts to build.  I remember a colour from a banana I ate a few days ago,

Suddenly, I see a flash in my mind ... a canvas so rich, so voluptuous, a beautiful

Indian red making that perfect banana colour, like a naked temptress veiled and

laying outstretched on a rock in the sun. I know if I sit down it will be hours passing

before I find the courage and  excitement  again to tackle the prepared canvas.

Quickly   I fold the colours into one another on the glass palette, not too much, 'let

something work, itself out on the canvas'  Like  releasing  a snow white dove,  the

loaded  knife  hits the canvas surface spreading the thick buttery paint like clotted

cream across the virgin surface. I deliver the paint to the canvas, watching and

waiting, seizing on something, capitalizing on the moment as it happens.

It is painting for the sake of the paint  itself. I live and die by some strange emotions

as the knife passes back and forth across the canvas, Brilliant marks trail one

another, In a rush to control, it feels like I'm waking a tight rope.

I know I'm only a guide; a rescuer the painting begins to breathe again. I have pulled it

 back from the edge.  I know the wrestling will continue until I make myself redundant

and the umbilical cord is cut. I'm exhausted………………."

Over the years Paul Battams has developed his own range of paints and steel blades.

Successive changes in formulae, have allowed him to create his unique style,

allowing him to fashion a different path towards the unique and the individual.