Biography

Painting has always been an integral part of my life. Whilst I followed a career in journalism and graduated with an English degree, it has always been a passion and now eventually my metier.

My paintings are born out of drawing. I will spend hours sketching in the landscape to use as inspiration back in the studio. Each sketch feeds into and informs my painting, until some element of the original is caught and the subject acquires a life of its own. I work on a number of canvasses at the same time, moving from one to the other.

Landscapes form the basis of my work. I have always been mesmerised by horizons: flat sweeps of field, the sentinel look of Cyprus trees and the layers of land that draw the eye into the distance. I then bring these scenes to life in either an abstract or figurative form - even my most abstract work has as its point of departure the craggy lines of the Alpilles which I look onto from my studio in Provence.

Colour is intrinsic to all my painting. I add colour notes to every sketch, helping to record the soft morning light, the bright strips of sunshine or the hazy ranges of mountains that surround me when I draw en plein air.

When I transfer these sketches to the canvas, I use different mediums to help bring these scenes to life: oils add a richness, whereas the way I use acrylics in transparent washes helps recreate the different layers in the land. The addition of mixed media towards the end, then gives texture and interest to the emerging piece of work.

Nudes are another important element of my work, and the careful observation needed to transfer the human form that I see before me on to a canvas is a tool that serves me well in all my painting.