'I have an emotional affinity for the Swahili Coast in Kenya. Between 1958 and 1964 I lived and went to school in Mombasa. This is a town which influenced me than any other place I have lived. The how harbor in the Old Town was a place that I liked to wander around with my friends. I also was intrigued by the dhows I would watch sail in and out of the port past English Point. To me these ancient craft were symbols of adventure and mysterious places. Lamu, where I have spent many happy months, is very similar to the Mombasa of my childhood. Old, Arabic and with working sailing dhows and now probably the last place on the East African coast that still preserves an interesting window into a romantic past. This is a window that is now nearly closed and which I am busy documenting with every painting I do of the Swahili Coast.'

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