In 2001 when I first found the fishing communities on the beaches of Kerala I couldn’t articulate my interest, yet I knew that I had been waiting many years to find a subject that inspired me with such intensity.

 

The experience of recording the fishing activities on these beaches, surrounded by fisherfolk, is very different to painting in my studio. I like to think that the energy of constant movement and interruption is communicated in the paintings.

 

My close observation of a community of people working together in harmony, so close to nature, fills me with a nostalgia, and a strange reverence …all the more poignant as such scenes are disappearing fast..

These studies of the Chakara tell a story about an extraordinary fishing event that few have witnessed. ( In the 6 years that I have been visiting the Chakara I have never seen another European on the beach)

 

Winslow Homer spent 20 months (1891-1893) painting the fishing community in Cullercoates, Northumberland. He also visited fishing places in Yorkshire, Scarborough and Flamborough. His work has been the main sources of influence for me.

 

I remember Hull as a great fishing city. I grew up in Wawne, and went to school in Hull. There must be many people in Hull whose lives were, and still are, in some way linked to the sea and fishing.

 

I see the beautiful shapes of the fishing boats filled with a crew of fishermen in India representing a spirit of adventure and comradeship among the men, that through large commercial, fishing practices, has disappeared here in our ‘developed country’. Women have of course always played a very important role in fishing communities; I paint them working along side the men. This closeness to nature and a simple way of life has been lost to us.

The Vikings first came up the Humber in very similar boats to those still used for fishing in Kerala. I feel a strong identify with the scenes that I paint --- for some reason it is deep inside my subconscious.

I would like to share these wonderful romantic scenes with others.