Some of my favourite artists include David Hockney, Georgia O’Keefe, Max Escher

Some of my favourite artists include David Hockney, Georgia O’Keefe, Max Escher. There are many others; however, these are the ones that I instantly think of, when someone asks me to name a favourite. In many respects, their work is very different, one from the other.

David Hockney is in some ways the least abstract of the three. In particular, I like his Big Splash series, paintings that he created while he lived in California. Several of these works included swimming pools. Although they are quite poster-like in their representation, they convey a sense of being there.

Goergia O’Keefe on the other hand painted hyper blown flowers, which I admire. But I prefer her desert landscapes, showing the harsh, barren landscape of the New Mexico climate and the simplicity of the buildings.

And Max Escher represents fantasy worlds, using both his graphic and mathematical expertise. Looking at his etchings is like an escape into a sci-fi world.

What connects these three artists for me? I suppose that the visual of the subject matter is one thing. And quite possibly the mastery of the techniques used.

But all three artists’ works attract me on some deeper, emotional level, that is almost like getting into a book, where one can imagine far more than the visual or written idea.

In the end, that is a primary reason for the arts: visual, written, acted, danced, played, sung-they all involve one to go inside oneself and touch something quite primal and very important.