My pictures have a mapping way about them. I like images that can be understood in a variety of ways – water that can be a hillside, branches that can be pathways and the architecture of light-filled trees. They are about nature vision with shapes of water and rocks.
History of Artist
The Forest of Dean was my childhood home. Apart from my love of trees, woodland and light through leaves, the colour of pigments in the earth reds, yellow ochres and purples shine through. Some colours, usually blues, greens, green-blues, and blue-greens sit together well on the canvas, they speak of landscape and reflect on nature. My use of oranges, pinks and purples are more challenging and when I can bring them together so they sing of happiness and finding what is precious and sometimes hidden in life then that is a good day.
Books have always been important in my image making, I grew up living above the family bookshop and probably that hardest thing for me as an artist during lockdown was being unable to visit bookshops and libraries. Paintings are, for me, like books opened out. A medieval mappa mundi will have many images and legends and that is how I would like my paintings to be. My bookshelves have books on Maps, Rocks & Minerals, Trees, Animals, Symbols, Dreams and Poetry as well as Art Books
Some of the toys from childhood like marbles, or building blocks that open out to reveal animals and figures, or colouring games have stayed in vivid memory. The practice of drawing has been a lifelong thing. I remember my first hardback sketchbook which seemed like a miracle to me – a book with blank pages which could be filled with imaginings seemed wonderful. I still keep sketchbooks – books of exploration where I might discover something.