Artist’s Statement

I was born in Liverpool 1963. Educated at Liverpool Girls’ College then on to St Katherine’s to study fine art. I later returned to education and went to Goldsmiths College London and gained a P.G dip and Masters degree in art psychotherapy.

I first exhibited work in early 2000’s in St Ives and have since gone on to exhibit and sell work across the UK. I am currently a gallery artist for Viridian gallery Keswick, Dockside gallery Berwick upon Tweed, Contemporary Art café Whitby, Seagrass studio West Kirby, Blue Moon gallery Heswall, Galleria Rainhill. I also have an annual show in Calderstones reader gallery and have also exhibited a large collection of work in the Crypt gallery St Ives which I will return to next year. I have successfully entered many open competitions over the years, gaining commendations and prizes..St Helens, West Lancashire, Wirral, St Ives, Knowsley to name a few. I was selected as one of the best of Merseyside artists by both Wirral and Knowsley when the competition was held at the conservation centre. My work has been bought as far afield as Newfoundland, Japan, Istanbul, Switzerland, Norway and France. I also have many collectors in the UK.

My work is all acrylic on canvas . It is fundamentally emotionally atmospheric stripped back land and sea views. The work is spontaneous yet deeply considered, some appear to be made up of thin layered marks where more paint is removed than is left presenting calm, gentle, peaceful elements …yet others retain a thick bold use of paint with a defensive texture that is hard to fight through.

I am not driven to create a particular view, but will often be inspired by thoughts and memories of time spent in a particular place. My paintings are as much about inner feelings as they are about a physical landscape, they are as much a response to a dramatic sky or the way light falls on the sea as they are to a meaningful conversation had with a friend whilst out on a walk.

I never start out with a specific image in mind, never know what the final image will look like, I can’t tell you how long it has taken to create the painting or how all its marks, colours and textures came to be, all I can do is follow a feeling with paint and see where it takes me. For me painting is about braving the unknown with uncertainty and emotional risk taking, making mistakes and messing it up along the way. Eventually the journey manifests itself in a form that may at first view be a landscape of a physical nature but ultimately is one of an emotion.