PAINTINGS PRE 2021
My studio is at home, close to the village of Marshfield, South Gloucestershire. Having completed a BA degree at Chelsea, London, I moved to the West Country. This is a beautiful rural area, with hill top views and steeply wooded valleys. The colour, tone and light has a particular quality that permeates both the landscape and the light falling into the house. Much of my early work before 2021 is inspired by this lyrical landscape and seascapes of the nearby coast.
I usually begin a work by making quick, compositional sketches on paper and then move swiftly on to work directly with oil colour paint onto a gesso-primed surface or paper. I frequently work on five or six pictures consequtively, using brushes initially, then pencil, chalk, cloths, sandpaper and various scratching tools, so that a process of building up and taking away takes place until the composition, tone and colour vibrancy feels right.
I enjoy the freedom of working unhindered, that is inspired by observation but which can then be expanded within the world of the imagination. Taking key elements, I try to present in a semi-abstract or simplified form the emotional content that I want to convey. This process can transform the original image completely many times over.
The people whose work I find I refer to the most includes: the ancient murals of Egypt, the artists of St. Ives , Bonnard, Gaugin, Rousseau. Craxton and one of my old tutors from Chelsea, Ken Kiff.
PAINTINGS POST 2026
In 2021 I suffered the terrible loss of one of my children. It is only nearly five years later that I feel able to paint again. These paintings are made by a very different person than before. A different palette and emotional vocabulary have found expression and the world I inhabit is still quite unfamiliar and strange.