Creating Art  is my way of looking, seeing and understanding. It is a visual exploration of my world and my expression of it.  Over time my visual language has become more evident - that of strong energetic line , texture and colour always trying to drill to the essence of my subject.

 

Because my marks are strong and dynamic I find that these are the subjects that I am drawn to: fishing boats in the wind hauling the catch; allotments rich with contrast and vibrant colour; flowers and jugs that have attitude and personality and coasts with rocky outcrops. Within all my subjects there is more than what I see - there is the smell, the breeze and salty air of the sea; the growth and promise of the allotments - hope, joy, feelings all pour in to what I do. 

My process is also visceral: push, pull, rip, tear, sew, splash, paint then rest and return! It is all one big and continuos experiment with materials and mediums often governed by place, time, situation and opportunity. 

 

I have worked with print: lino, screen and etching. With collage I use old magasines, old drawings, paraphenalia and books but also beautiful hand made papers. I use oil, acrylic, gouache, watercolour, pigment, dye, chalk, crayon, ink. My tools are enormous old brushes handed down and sticks whittled by my nephew. My work can end up under the sewing machine or the hose pipe. My desire and drive and love for making Art is insatiable but not always easy or succesful. 

​

Observational drawing is vital and portraiture and life drawing challenge this skill. It is a different angle - to understand what is human, how we move is the basis of life drawing for me which I like to sum up in a few simple lines.

 

Success for me is work that sits happily between representative and abstraction with colour, composition and an energy that takes you to the place but lets you complete the narrative. Enjoy...