I find the practice of painting is akin to meditation where the mind is focused on the work and all the stuff of everyday life disappears.
The paintings are inspired by a varied collection of objects around my studio and home, flowers in the garden and the landscape. I use a limited palette mostly drawn from the colours found in nature, especially the geology and flora of the coastal cliffs where I walk daily.
The paintings start with random marks of colour (the under painting is integral to the work) and gradually take shape as pared down still life compositions bringing order and balance into the initial chaos. I make many small drawings, collages and oil sketches for reference during the process. At the end of each working day brushes and palette knives are wiped onto newspaper - creating little sketches which are later pasted into work books, these often become ideas for future paintings.
To me, the paintings are not simply 'still lives' as the relationship between each object, colour and the space around them evoke human relationships.
Selected Exhibitions
Lynne Strover Gallery, Fen Ditton, Cambridge
Jerram Gallery, Dorset
Wykeham Gallery, Hampshire
Portminster Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall
Artichoke Gallery, Kent
Jackson Gallery, Rock, Cornwall
Awards and Prizes include:
2008 Regional Prize for the West Country, Discerning Eye
1998 North Oxfordshire College Award, Royal Society of British Artists