Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

The inspiration for the Work comes from the inner world and my experiences traversing that space. Inspired by the transcendentality of symbolism and different states of consciousness every part of the Work is unique. Detailed within, is Light as well as dark and every hue of grey in-between. Prayer and contemplation are part of the Work and I use several methods to not only express the subconscious but also the superconscious.  The unification of opposites and the alchemical process of turning lead to gold is ever present. The Work ranges from the profanely mundane and the profoundly sacred. Inspiration comes from spiritual works and inner contemplation, scriptures, philosophy as well as the visionary qualities of art.

Being self-taught the process of improving the work has been that of trial and error and of experimentation. I believe while one can learn to imitate certain methods or techniques, just like one can follow along a recipe while cooking, learning to create art from your own soul is a different process. It is not a straight path, and often have I found that it is not the art in my life which inspires me to create. Rather it is perfectly mundane things as well as the unexplainable that happens to me. Some of my experiences I feel like are so out there that no one would believe me if I told them, so I paint them instead. The canvas is my story from start to finish, detailing epic poems as well as the simple things in life.

As simple as it sounds the first step was picking up a pen, I had never been particularly artistic as a child. I would occasionally draw from a thriving imagination but I never spent much time on it. I was busy with other things, and so it continued well into my late teens. I was much more interested in the literary world and developed a keen interest in philosophy, psychology and eventually metaphysics and theology. I despised art-class and never performed well, always telling myself that I couldn't draw or paint, that it was simply not for me. However at the tender age of 18 I picked up a pen again as well as a brush with some paints, and that childlike joy we feel when we lose ourselves in something dawned upon me once more. Since then I haven't put the pen nor the brush down.

It would take some time but I realised that this was what I was meant to do. The stories I had tried to write and tell where insufficient in telling of the things I felt needed to be told. I felt misunderstood and alienated, I tried to create music and other projects with friends and others yet I felt alone in my understanding of creativity and self-expression. My speech and thoughts were different from theirs and it seemed no matter how well I tried to articulate the things in my heart I was doomed to be misunderstood. Instead in solitude I painted and it was when I gave up on the words that I truly understood what I was thinking and feeling. I saw in the movement of paint the things I'd been trying to express were so clearly communicated, and I understood that the painters before me had felt the same. I was all alone yet I felt like I belonged to a invisible group of people; the artists and the mystics of ages past and ages to come. It is among them my true north is, it is precisely there my true home is.

The process varies from work to work, as stated I practice several methods in every work and I regularly pray, contemplate and focus on each piece. There is no straight guidelines to follow when it comes to art and it is a very intuitive practice. Rarely if ever, is there a preconceived notion of what a piece should be, it unfolds along with the process itself. I listen carefully to the silence and I follow the guidance of my heart as I paint. I use various methods of painting and various tools, there is no exact way I paint as it changes drastically between every painting. This makes every painting completely unique in its creation and each artwork is imbued with a characteristic energy.

It is all handcrafted in my studio in my own home, I work from a place of serenity, contemplation and I follow the way the Work wants to develop. It is exactly as ludicrous and pretentious as it sounds - we label it spiritual, others as madness, but labels are not important to me or my work. Truth is I do the Work and will continue to do so. It is my purpose to be here doing this work and I will continue to do it. I am a fool - a fool whose colourful stories are told by the imaginative dance of paint.

The Work is inspired entirely by my inner world and the experiences which arise from there; in the forests of old where mythological beasts and ordinary people dwell, existing side by side - unaware of each other's existence. The Work gives form to the formless, it gives colour to feelings some have never felt and it describes in vivid detail the journey of the soul.

The mystery is a yesterday's dream of tomorrow's utopia condensed into a single drop of luminescent transparency; it is a foreboding prophecy of what was and a fulfilled promise recited of what will be. To the uninitiated eye it may seem like a bizarre meeting place for ideas to manifest and express in various creative forms. One thing is for certain, from the ethereal realms beyond - colours have come forth and stained our own. What you see, what you find - is entirely up to you.

Zevul is a name and the figuration of the inner herald bringing the mystery.  A shape given the writing on the wall, a face to the message simply. How else do we address the nameless if not by assigning it labels and titles? How else do we experience nothingness if not through the lense of something. Not more than anyone or anything else - Zevul is the same stardust whirlwind as everyone else - simply named something else to discern from the other. Zevul is no more me than anyone else.

The Work is the culmination of all the inner labour; it is the direct experience of life refined through creativity and condensed into expression. It is an extension of the word which has echoed since the beginning; birthing galaxies and bringing mind to atoms. Each soul continues their Work until it is finished. For all my life and for the rest of it - this is it. This is the Work which has brought me here. It is destiny manifest - fate prophesied and fulfilled. The Work is a journal of my life's journey across frozen deserts, lush mountains and barren cities. It is a map of the cosmic seas which I have crossed and it is an account of the souls whose lighthouses have guided and lit my path to alien shores.

In a garden which beneath rivers flow.

No.

As real as whatever you believe it to be; shrouded in a thick mist of abstract conceit - in the Arcanum the line between fantasy and real is erased. Dreams and waking life are both equally mystified, the surreal take real, palpable shape and the tangible is untangled into bewildering, indecipherable and ambigious imagery.

Contemplate the beauty of trees, the mystery of the wind and the wisdom of the moon - the celestial body which knows all our secrets. Giving thanks to the sun and its nourishing warmth, tending to the life that surrounds us and sitting in still quietness.

I do! You can read more information about commissions here.