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Hamish Blakely

“A painting should speak for itself. As Fritz Lang, the great Austrian film maker and director of
“Metropolis” stated, “When a director makes a film and it doesn’t express what he wants to say
and he needs to give an interview to explain to an audience why and what; he is a lousy direc-
tor.” I certainly don’t suggest an Artist be aloof or even this dogmatic, as I have enjoyed countless
discussions with collectors that have left me with a vivid and refreshed perspective of my work,
but it is a striking remark that applies to Art; a painting should grab the viewer without an essay
or speech, leaving further explanation supplementary rather than vital. Where possible, my own
thoughts should recede to allow space for the views of the audience.

I am a late bloomer and it’s taken a while to find my own voice. When I was very young, I
taught myself a great deal, slavishly trying to copy any picture that appealed. This was a good
way to absorb some idea of technique but a means to an end. Things have moved on thankfully
and while I count Caravaggio, Degas, and Velázquez amongst many influences, I have no inter-
est in emulating another Artist. Once you have found your stamp, there’s no going back and this
is something I can not take for granted. Each bare canvas brings enough self doubt and nerves
to keep me on my toes every time. I splodge the paint on and hope that I win the battle as some-
times the brushes and paint have their own peculiar ideas about how things should look. Not
every piece can be of equal merit and it is this uncertainty that makes my heart leap when I have
had a breakthrough. The first significant one of these arrived when I was 18 years old. It was a

portrait of my Dad and I simply had not produced anything like it previously. Once completed, it
made it possible for me to imagine painting as a vocation.”

Hamish Blakely

hamishblakely.com

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