ARTIST STATEMENT

For me, being an artist means paying attention to what I see around me. I like to reference landscapes and found objects that hold my fascination and incorporate these directly in my work. I’ve found inspiration from many places over the years, places and moments that have left a lasting impression. It’s important for me not just to have a visual experience but also to have a sensory one, it serves my memory well. At art college we were taught to admire and research other artists past and present and that still resonates with me today. I love seeing what other artists do and often adapt elements of their style into my own creations.

The gesture and physicality of mark-making is central to my work. Within my paintings, horizon lines are repeated and manipulated along with the deliberate push and pull of paint. These gestures of abstraction are used to mirror the constant shifts occurring within the sea and sky. With printmaking lines are rigid, etchings haphazard in their movement around the paper. This is especially true when composing images of forest groves: branches swirling, textures of tree trunks and directional markers of pathways.

I am in awe of the historical importance that ceramics hold (the British Museum is a favourite of mine). My aim is to make the audience think about the heritage that has been passed down to us, that mostly we use the same shape and form created from the past but that we can also subvert these forms to create experimental, sculptural works designed to challenge and question traditional decorative ornamentation.

I’m a member of East Dorset Potters and Poole Printmakers and often exhibit with these groups on a regular basis.