Everchanging and evolving, my art has been exhibited in sole and group exhibitions and collected internationally.
I enjoy working in a variety of mediums and have become engrossed in different methods and materials at different phases of my life – exploring the possibilities and limitations of mediums and how they can best express what I want to try and communicate at that particular time.
My pattern design work has been a natural progression from creating digital fine art work, combined with art historical interest in pattern design history and knowledge of Arts and Crafts patterns from curating at the David Parr House. Added to this was a desire to produce artwork that would become the fabric of a house, pattern to bring joy to everyday life on everyday objects.
The vector based pattern designs featured in my collections are all created using Adobe Illustrator. This ‘clean’ method of working is underpinned by copious preparation work created using traditional mediums such as pastel, charcoal – I still get great joy from getting my hands dirty when creating.
The food illustrations (right) were a combination of coloured inks and pencils and were created to illustrate a family recipe book.
I have been creating digital art work for many years and followed David Hockney’s lead of working on the iPad in combination with a stylus and the Brushes app. Now I create fine art work and graphical elements on Procreate. I find I take more risks and play more with colour and composition when working digitally with the ability to ‘undo’.
The vast golden sands of Holkham beach, framed by sand dunes and pine forests, are a constant and favourite source of inspiration. Through pastel I’ve tried to capture the restful joy of being by the sea and the shadows and reflections of a sunny day at the beach. The time to think.
I was drawn to etching after studying David Hockney’s illustrations of ‘Six Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm’. Dark and unsettling it opened up the possibility of exploring difficult and emotive subjects around trauma and healing. Inspired by Hockney’s mark making and use of aquatint I studied printmaking at St Barnabas studios.
