Folksy,whimsical, Naive....What?

I get many different descriptions of my work, ranging from Folksy art to Whimsical.

I'm not quite sure what it is.For me, it just is, what it is.I don't like to pigeonhole it into category.

When I first started to paint, I tried to paint in the very traditional way, but somehow my heart was never really there.

I do however love to view traditional watercolour, especially from many of the purists, and I look on with awe, and inspiration.In fact it is a passion for me.

My work just developed down the path it did, because I was following what eventually became natural to me.

Art should always be , in my eyes, an expression of what's inside of you, and however that manifests itself is I think the right way to go.

That's not to say one should be lazy in not experimenting and trying out new ideas, or reaching out of your comfort zone.That , I feel is how an artist develops.Pushing ones own natural boundaries.

My work may not suit the tastes of watercolour purists, but it certainly suits who I am.

If it really has to be categorized, then perhaps it should just be Chris Larkinism.

Imagine

It took me years to realize the potency of ones imagination.

A person doesnt have to sit at the top of Everest to know what the view looks like from there.

Is it the same to have merely imagined being there, and acting as if, in your minds eye, you were really there? Feeling all the sensations that you think you would feel, if you really were there.

I think a person can. What's better still, I think you could actually have an even better and more intense experience than just passively taking in the view of what's actually out there in reality.

Of course that raises the issue of reality.Everything we see, hear, touch, smell and taste is filtered and perceived so differently, none of us ever will get to truth.

Is the scene in the painting above, real or imagined?

Sometimes, I'm really not quite sure anymore.

Maybe that's the point of me being an artist.Bending reality to fit with the model of the world I would want.

Just because I see it in my head, doesn't mean it's not real.

Is it?