I am a painter. When I arrived in Johannesburg I was thinking about colour. The second day I was here my truck was stolen. It took me a while to get used to the space it left on the curb. The following day on the way to the studio by foot I met a guy with a gun. He had nothing in his eyes. He grabbed my arm and my basket full of portfolio stuff. I said "don't do that." He let go and pulled out a gun. I turned to run away but quickly realised that a bullet is faster than feet so I turned back to him. He walked away laughing. I felt humiliated. A week later I met a bunch of kids at the studios doing a workshop with another artist whose residency was ending as mine was beginning. I was told "these kids are living on the edge, they have nothing." Some of them wanted to learn how to draw. I gave one boy some pencils: HB, H2, H4, H6 and B2, B4, B6. Back to colour, the studio, Fordsburg, Johannesburg; the stories, the people, city life.

In South Africa I was classified as coloured but it is the place I feel most white. I asked a friend how he felt when he was away from Jo'burg exhibiting overseas. He said that he didn't miss it as such but that when he got home and walked down streets like Minnaar or Bree, he felt so good to be back because there is nowhere else like it. There is the infrastructure: roads, lights, water, advertising, t.v., democracy, Sandton but also places like Mai Mai and people like Nelson and Desmond, a special African energy. I feel Jo'burg, S.A. has a lot going for it. There is so much to do to make things better for more people. It's happening.

I am a permanent resident of Botswana and have lived in Gaborone for 17 years. This is my first residency in a city like Jo'burg since I left London in 1985. Its not easy living with strangers, the shared domestic intimacy, suddenly the strangers are colleagues, friends. I have loved the experience and I have missed my boys: Mattias, Leif and Esbjorn.

I was born in Guyana in 1960. My mother is Amerindian and my father is English. I was educated in Britain and obtained a masters degree in History of Art from Edinburgh University in 1983. I worked in London for The Christies Contemporary Art Gallery until I left for Botswana in 1985. I have lived in Guyana, The Solomon Islands, Trinidad, England, Scotland and Botswana. I have participated in exhibitions and performances in Botswana, France, Italy, London, Namibia, Sweden, South Africa, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe. My work is represented in the National Art Collection of Botswana, the Mbile Collection, Zambia, the Alliance Francaise Collection, Johannesburg and in private collections internationally.