Scatter I

View more work by John Murray here.

When working on a large, usually idea-based, painting I typically use large amounts of acrylic paint. On finishing a session, I often have large amounts of paint left over, which I apply to smaller surfaces in order to (a) not waste the paint and (b) enjoy applying paint without the pressure of converting an idea into a painting. I playfully scatter the paint that happens to be on the palette on the smaller surfaces, being guided by the emerging colours, patterns and forms. The painting is complete when it appears “done”. So, these scatter-gun paintings are off-shoots of more conceptual works that are equally valid out-workings of an initial idea.