I have been painting and drawing since childhood. I am self taught. My subjects are wide ranging and include portraits, landscapes, seascapes and architectural scenes. I like to work in both pencil and water colour depending on the subject matter.
My work is represented in very fine detail. I use a thick gouache rather than thin applications of water colour for my paintings, I like the creamy consistency of this medium and I find its versatility an advantage when reproducing fine detail. I prefer pencil to pen and ink because of its “moveable “quality, although I have worked in both.
My style varies a lot depending on the subject I have chosen. I try to tailor each piece of work to the style it represents for me e.g. contemporary, classical, historical or traditional. I enjoy painting or drawing subjects that I have never attempted before, experimenting with light and line and colour. These include things like water, steam, metal and glass. Subjects usually take a realistic form.
Past exhibitions include, “Points of View 1” and “Points of view 2” These exhibitions incorporated a wide range of paintings and drawings and included a variety of subjects that have been of interest to me. There have been many, including a child portrait of a Bedouin Girl (whom I met on my travels in the Far East. ) This original painting was donated to” Save The Children” in 1984 and has since been released in limited edition print format.
A detailed pencil drawing of The Clifton Suspension Bridge which I drew from a friend’s house and which I completed in 1984 inspired me to create a catalogue of detailed pencil drawings. Entitled “The Link” , this drawing of Clifton Suspension Bridge still represents for me a link in a fine piece of jewellery. I remember looking out for this famous landmark on long family journeys when I was very small. I have always loved its “fairytale” quality with its sparkly lights and jewelled appearance.
I have recently produced two collections of works referencing famous engineers. In 2006 I produced my “Brunel’s Kingdom” collection in time for Brunel’s 200th Birthday Celebrations and in 2007 I created my “Telford’s Way” collection. I have chosen pencil as the medium for these drawings because of its close relationship to engineering drawing. Each of these collections is now supported by a limited print series, A4 mini prints, greetings cards and postcards. I am hoping to create an engineering hand book from these drawings.
There are many artists whom I greatly admire and for many different reasons. I love “Starry night” by Vincent Van Gogh. I think it is quite brave to represent a night time scene in colour since night is represented more or less monochromatically to the naked eye. I feel that Van Gogh has recorded a lot of the colours from his imagination, creating a painting which almost glows. For me, this is a special talent.
Hockney’s “The Swimming Pool “ is another great favourite of mine. I like his contemporary approach to this subject, employing the use of bright, flat areas of colour and simplified images and creating a warm and brilliant scene.
My favourite quotation is: “The best way to know life is to love many things” by Vincent Van Gogh.
My work is represented in very fine detail. I use a thick gouache rather than thin applications of water colour for my paintings, I like the creamy consistency of this medium and I find its versatility an advantage when reproducing fine detail. I prefer pencil to pen and ink because of its “moveable “quality, although I have worked in both.