About

I studied fine art print making at Brighton University as a mature student, graduating in 2003. I have a studio in New England House in Brighton where I produce most of my paintings. I also have a studio at home for illustration and small work.

I draw my inspiration from the landscape around me, and the places I have been to, for example France, Spain, Italy, India and Morocco.

Some of the paintings are produced using combination of painting and printmaking techniques. This is a way of working I developed during my degree. It allows me to be very flexible at the start of the painting.

I begin by making a compositional sketch, then, I paint linseed oil based printing inks directly onto an acetate sheet. From here I can smudge and move the ink as desired.

This board is placed on the printing press with the paper on top, and then passed under the roller. I can manipulate the ink on the paper to blend or scratch through because it has such a long drying time. Once dry I over paint using acrylics. I use a mixture of materials from powdered graphite and charcoal, metal leaf, glitter, oil pastels to coloured pencil and even furniture polish to achieve the desired finish. This is why I label my work as mixed media, as each piece may have seven or eight separate ingredients. The process for a painting is much the same as described above, minus the printing press.

I finish the work with several layers of archival varnish, to ensure that more fugitive items such as glitter, will retain their colour and character as log as the paint does. As with all paintings and prints though, they should not be hung in direct sunlight for prolonged periods, to ensure they retain their colour an lustre.