Colour has been a dominant visual force from childhood and I remember asking, 

aged five, to have a reproduction of Van Gogh’s boats I’d seen in a magazine to 

hang on my bedroom wall.  

 

Later, decorating the family home explored the effects produced by different shades and tones on how light is reflected and the atmosphere it creates.   Then, with the family becoming more independent, pursuing a degree in Art and Design, English and Philosophy as a mature student was a freeing experience and led to a 20 year teaching career.  

 

More recently, my energies have focussed on expressing a response to a 

particular scene or situation through art.  The West Country provides a rich 

source of creative inspiration with its wild moorland and rocky coastal areas and 

in my paintings I endeavour to catch that elusive element that first attracted 

me.   Working in oils enables vibrant and textured application of paint to produce 

a dynamic image through colour and form.

 

While my work is a personal expression of what I see it is, nevertheless, rooted 

in a structurally observed representation of the subject that I then work to 

reduce to its basic elements.   Buildings and openings create tension and 

frequently lead me to explore intangible depths through layers of colour which I 

may then scrape back until the balance feels right.  

 

Each painting is a journey of discovery, rarely achieved quickly, and aiming to create a dynamic whole that invites the viewer to consider further.