Colour has been a dominant visual force from childhood and I remember asking, aged five, to have a reproduction of Van Gogh’s boats that I’d seen in a magazine to hang on my bedroom wall.

 

Later, decorating the family home,  I explored the effects produced by different shades and tones of colours 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.  

 

Generally, my creative energies focus on expressing a response to a particular scene or situation.   The West Country provides a rich source of 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.

 

Overall, 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.

 

More recently, repurposing and avoiding waste has inspired me to incorporate into my artwork some of the multitudinous bits and pieces one accumulates and this as proved creatively exiting.

 

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