Artist Statement

My work is inspired by an emotional, intuitive and spontaneous response to landscape and the natural world. In particular the effect of light and colour is a vital part on the outcome of the drawings and paintings. I work in the landscape as well as visually and emotionally responding to the experience of being in nature which I then use to paint in the studio, the work has a sense of place but then can evoke personal interpretations in the viewer. There is a sense of intimacy and a conservative use of marks to represent a feeling or an object and I often work with oil on paper using traditional techniques and like to work with different materials allowing the marks and materials to co-exist with each other. My work relates to the English landscape tradition with the artist JMW Turner seascapes being an important influence.

I use the innate elements of paint and mark-making to make direct and intuitive representations of mood, place and light. Paint has its own sensuality which dictates the process and initiates a mysterious and poetic resonance in the simplicity of a brushstroke or sweep of a palette knife.

I paint intuitively with every piece becoming and entity in its own right, which in turn makes its own demands on creativity and begins to narrate its own journey.

BA Hons Visual Art.  2003 - 2005

University of Salford

MA Contemporary Fine Art.  2005 - 2007

University of Salford

Certificate of Education - Post Compulsory.  2005 - 2007

University of Central Lancashire

Mentoring Qualification.  2002

MANCAT Manchester