Artists Describing Their Art:
Philip Hallawell - I work in various media: oil, watercolor, dry pastels, pen and ink and mixed media. My work is a result of a fragmented view of the world, which gives it a surreal quality. However, my process is not surreal, because I start with a definite theme that I wish to investigate. My main area of interest is people and the human form and I am constantly investigating the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual aspects of Man. Over the years I have developed various series, which I revisit periodocally, investigating different aspects. In purely visual terms, what fascinates me is light and form and how I can use diverse visual elements in a complementary way, opposing, for instance, line and form, or rough and smooth textures. The use of diferent materials to achieve diverse expressions, either alone or as mixed media, along with alternating between a graphic representation and a painterly one, or mixing the two, is a very important aspect of the way I materialize my thinking into images. Equally important is the transition from very realistic images to a totally abstract means of expression and alternating between control and expressiveness....
