ABOUT THE ARTIST
Artist's statement
For as long as I can remember, I have always had an affinity with the diverse landscape of my home county of Lincolnshire. The open skies, dramatic light and wide-open spaces continually provide a source of inspiration for my work. My aim…to capture the unique character of a place; the drama of an impending storm, the wind howling over a remote beach or field; a glorious summers day, or a breath-taking sunset. My focus is to create work which excites me, celebrating the landscape through effective use of colour and mark-making in a non-representational way. Allowing the viewer to find their own place within my work; a reminder of a special time, or a moment captured is especially important. Travel has been tremendously inspirational. Even though the landscapes I have experienced have been extremely varied, the essence of my work always remains the same…the desire to celebrate what I have seen in my own unique way.
Method of working
I use a range of different media but work primarily in oil. Layering colours and rubbing them back, gives me the sophisticated colour palette I require to create drama and a sense of light. For me, oil is most definitely the best medium to achieve this. After fracturing my wrist, determined not to stop creating, I was forced to work using my less dominant hand. This is when I re-kindled my love for using watercolour. I also experimented with alcohol markers and discovered exciting results could be achieved with these too.
My inspiration comes from being within the landscape, so walking and exploring is where I start. I work directly in the landscape, as well as in the studio, responding to photographs I have taken, and preliminary sketchbook drawings made. These combined facilitate the creative process, allowing the work to unfold naturally, in a free and expressive way.
