About Me

I’ve been drawing longer than I can remember, and painting since not much after that. As a youngster I was often to be found roaming the Lake District hills with my brother, sister and parents. Many weekends were spent scrambling up hills – surrounded by glorious landscapes, atmospheric skies and colourful plants.

These activities obviously left their mark on me, as I’m now lucky enough to paint for a living. It was my dream, my one driving ambition as a teenager to be a professional artist, and I’m very proud to say that my all dreams came true!

Many times I’ve been asked what I think of when I’m painting, and I know that people expect an ‘arty’ answer, but the truth is that I am often lost in the process. I’m obsessed with colour, as you can see in many of my paintings, and strive to show the subtle details that we all see but often go unnoticed.

I like to explore many of the same themes and images, the tension between abstraction and representation, the duel between techniques and moods.

Colour plays the main role in what I create. A high or low perspective of densely knotted vegetation, a frantic pattern of grained wood or choking greenery that is so visually claustrophobic it has to be rescued by some sense of the landscape it lies in. I see it as bolts of illumination.

I find it hard to describe what I specifically want to convey through my work. They are made through feelings rather than words. If I was forced to sum up what I want to express, I would describe them as dreamlike and nostalgic yet contemporary. They speak of memories and the endurance of images. Atmospheric and melancholic, they are inconsequential moments that are highly charged.

As a landscape artist I endeavour to inspire and nurture our love of the natural world.

I’ve painted almost constantly since leaving University, taking a small break when my children were born, and have had some unusual studios. A spare bedroom, and a garage were quite comfortable, but it’s probably best not to talk too much about the cow shed (not a disused cow shed I should add!)