I am driven to paint, it is a natural and intuitive thing. The very idea of not painting or being prevented from doing so would be unnatural, almost too unbearable to think about. The question, Why do I paint? is like asking a musician why they play. A creative soul cannot give an answer to Why?
Over the years I have experimented with many art forms, however my main work for the past six years has been with acrylic paints. I love the quality of the medium and the effects I can achieve. It is very versatile and I have developed an understanding of it through practice and experimentation.  I choose to use acrylic paint as it is technically impossible to paint the way I do using oils. My paintings are very complex - colour harmony and an overall balance is essential and I use various techniques to achieve the desired effect, in order to produce  a final work of art.
My work explores the often overlooked surroundings that make up our landscape. I am obsessed with texture and old items that show the passage of time - beach glass, cracked and weathered wood, abandoned buildings, rusted metal and corroded textured surfaces. 
The series I am currently working on, entitled Beautiful Decay is a combined result of my experiences and observations whilst living for three years in Holland, my recent move to London and a trip some years back to Pompeii. It expands on my obsessions with texture, the passage of time and nature's effects on man-made environments, the biggest example of this being Pompeii. It deals with how these decaying items, derelict areas and discarded buildings can be beautiful. With my paintings I try to emphasise the beauty of the often unseen and overlooked, such as an abstract painting between the flaking layers of paint, an orange brown rust that becomes a neon glow in the right light, a forgotten billboard that is slowly turning into a sculpture as dust particles and moisture in the air form cracks and bleach the image. I do not copy these things but present an interpretation. I will take real elements which inspire me, such as the green from moss, coloured flakes of paint, and the neon orange browns in rust  and from these create my works of art.

To read more about Justin visit his website
www.justinsidney.com



"South Kensington Subway"
80x120cm, acrylic paint on canvas