About

ARTISTS STATEMENT

I am a figurative artist, painter and teacher.

Nowadays, I enjoy having more time to actually paint. I did a lot of illustration and teaching work until a few years ago, to earn a living. I still teach but give less classes.

My inspiration for my work comes from the everyday experience in my surroundings and my response to wherever I am; whether I am in the confines of my studio; working with still life; outside in my garden or along the East coast where I live. Also, when I am lucky enough and the weather is good enough, I get away to the West of Ireland which has always been an inspirational location for me.

During Covid I had to start learning how to camp when I went West as it was a difficult time to get accommodation for a single person. This amplified the whole experience of painting outdoors in the landscape, my connection to being in nature, and part of the bigger picture; waking up in the night to a canopy of stars or in the amazing dawn light and going to bed when the daylight was gone. I felt an even stronger connection to the earth (literally). It made the whole experience more magical. I haven’t stopped camping since.

THE PROCESS

It is actually quite challenging working outdoors though. With constantly changing weather and light on my subject matter, I need to work quickly if I am to get to the essence of what I see and wish to represent. I have developed a kind of imaging short hand , using multiple small studies in black and white pencils, charcoal, black ink and water) and water colours for colour reference. I work on A5, A4 and A3 studies depending on how settled the weather is and then develop the A4 or A3 paintings in small oil studies. I never know what is going to work and am not always satisfied with what I produce but when it does all come together it can be magical (and a relief!)

I love the contemplative quality of painting, being present in the moment on location wherever I am. I lose track of time in a process between what I am seeing and how I am interpreting that vision.

Working in my studio, setting up still life compositions can be very satisfying. I work a lot from nature; flowers, fruit and vegetables etc. It is not quite as challenging as painting outdoors, but at least without the unknown element of the Irish weather.

I also take every opportunity to do portraits for commissions or whenever sitters are available and attend life drawing as much as possible; a great way of maintaining skills and keeping my eyes active.

I am delighted that I can now bring a new energy and freedom to my artistic endeavours. I am finding new ways to open my creative experiences and artworks to others, inviting people to interact with my work and welcome their feedback.

Wherever possible, with the learnings that emerge from this, I find ways to engage with my students. By developing this website, I hope to open a new door through which to share my work with and learn from others. It is my way of contributing and engaging in the narrative of how we develop as artists, observing the work of others and learning from observation. I want to be part of the art community online, both contributing and learning from it.