Sleepwalking

I pass this group of three fig trees often on my drive into town. It sits on the horizon in a way that makes you want to just walk out to them and see over the hill. The colours around this small grove of trees change all the time - Somerset is full of beautiful grasslands that move through the seasons from lush lime green to the deep green of summer and the gold of autumn, before fading to the brown of winter. I had a dream about this tiny copse, which stands in a fenced paddock, and so cannot be approached without trespassing. In my dream I walked to the tree to see over the edge, but when I almost reached the trees I woke up! This painting captures the feel of the dreamscape, and keeps the mystery of 'what is over the horizon?'.

Follow

Form, colour and narrative are the elements that drive my art practice—a shape, a hue, a shadow, a story—all assume importance to me: the 'just so' fold of a mountain range; the luminous clouds of an afternoon sky; the hues lying deep within a shadow, or atop a highlight; the pregnant pause within a moment; the 'mise en scene' in a fleeting vignette. I am driven to record these things as imprints of my camera mind.

My work spans a range of subject matter that becomes the support for the interaction of form, colour and narrative. Landscapes, Still Life, Urban and Interior scenes and Figurative works all function to carry my own desire to both capture the immediate world around me and, in the case of figurative works, to capture a narrative that encourages the viewer to 'fill in the blanks' with potential meaning that resonates. I have a degree in History and Creative Writing, and it is the latter that I bring to the canvas in the form of storytelling. I have created several graphic narratives that extend the desire to narrate, and I enjoy playing with polysemy (the space between word and image). In the case of Artworks, polysemy occurs between image and title.

I seek to bring appreciation for the natural world, to chronicle the region in which I live, and the places to which I may travel, and to entertain with questions about scenarios played out on the two dimensional surface.

I am completely self taught across 40 years. In my early career I took part in solo and group exhibitions, sold over 800 paintings and prints, maintained a commercial studio, held several residencies and facilitated local art festivals and community art projects, before life stepped in and my art practice was suspended whilst caring for a seriously injured partner. I turned to teaching to retain contact with art. Now I am back at the easel, and selling prints and original works from my studio in Somerset, SEQ. I find my practice has matured; my second art life finally begins!