Painting is belonging, belonged. To see the world and translate how it feels (not looks), realism has nothing to do with it. For those of you lucky enough to experience the joy of painting, you will understand what it is to create something entirely new (forget “it’s been done before”) a painting is not an image, it is not back lit, it is not a moment in time captured. A painting is the sum of our experiences, it is many moments, it is the journey of long hours, alone and dedicated to making. A painting connects us to our past, to the world community of painters that have existed since the beginning of time, a painting connects us to ourselves, it allows us to delve into memory banks of colours and shapes and tones, of images half remembered, of sensations experienced from years before. Painting allows us to translate what it is that we cannot say, tactile sensations, a painting is finished when it “feels” right and not one second before, it brings to life a world not seen before. When it is done it has given us something anew.