My first job as an artist was painting enamel boxes for Bilston and Battersea Enamels. I learned a lot about accuracy, brush control, using colour, meeting deadlines and having my work scrutinised. Back then I was a student, studying Chemistry. A strange combination perhaps but it is so relevant and I’m fascinated by the science behind paint and pigments.
A career in IT in business and marketing took me away from the art world but nonetheless gave much opportunity for being creative and building digital design skills which I can now use in my work.
I was accepted onto the Defining Practice and Studio Practice year long programmes at Newlyn School of art. The two years were an invaluable way to consolidate all my art knowledge and focus my own art practice.
This led to taking part in Open Studios for the first time and I was approached to tutor beginners and improvers art classes, which I have loved.
My art work is quite diverse, but there are common threads.
My love of Cornwall, particularly West Penwith with its incredible light and rugged coast and moorlands. The jewel like colours form my palette with cobalt and Prussian blues, vermillion, pinks , shadows of indigo and purples and zingy yellows mixing with the blues to create bright fresh greens. I like to work loosely with watercolours and inks and to keep the transparency and light on the page that I find in the landscape.
In recent new projects I have experimented with acrylics, glazes and layering of texture and printing using a gelliplate and acrylic mediums. Keeping to the same colour palette but introducing coppers and a bright turquoise I’m really enjoying exploring new ideas - and taking it further into digital collaging.
