About me
As a child I drew and painted from a young age, encouraged by my mother and grandmother who were both artists, to look at the world. They helped me to see how to translate it into two dimensions and to express with colour. We lived between the sandy beaches of the South Coast and the trees and heathland of the New Forest. In my early twenties I travelled the world from West to East until I got back to where I started. Using stout walking boots and a heavy rucksack, I walked up volcanoes and through rivers. I visited golden temples and exotic cities. This experience grew me like sunshine on a plant. The canvas of my life opened up to encompass many new worlds. Now I find that same richness of unfolding in the smaller, yet infinitely rich soil of Hengistbury Head. I find it made up of different lands, the harbour beach, the marshes, the low woods, the top of the world, the buttercup field and my current favourite the lily ponds in the high wood. I walk here as often as I can and draw, photograph and paint from this rich resource of nature.
Artist Statement
In my work I am interested in ‘Who am I’ and ‘What is Real? The person I was even a few years ago is in many ways unrecognisable, from the person I am today. I feel that if I peel back the layers of our perceived reality, I will find something underneath that is more solid and pervades everything.
I am endeavouring to look below and behind me to see hidden secrets that may be lurking somewhere at the limit of my peripheral vision. I’m looking in the mirror, like Lewis Caroll’s Alice and in the shadows of the lake. I’m fascinated by how the pond shows us glimpses of what’s beneath its veneer, whilst also reflecting the branches and sky behind, all entangled in the surface detritus and pond plants. The three images collide together in one plane. A pane of glass in a window can also show several sides of what is happening at one time.
I’m also intrigued by how the web like structure of branches interweave, like threads of a tapestry unraveling to expose something of the interface, between the inner and outer worlds. Layers, like those of the skin, are peeling back to reveal something but it is as elusive catching smoke.
Solo and Group Exhibitions
2022 Solo Show - The Italian Villa at Compton Acres
2022 Artist in Residence Compton Acres Gardens
2020 Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton (Online)
2020 Parallax Art Fair, Kensington, London
2019 Gallery 32, Nunhead Art Trail, Nunhead, London
2018 Group Show – Shelley Theatre, Beechwood Ave, Bournemouth BH5 1LX
3rd February – 21st April 2018. Four Seasons – Southampton City Art Gallery
2018 Shaftesbury Arts Centre, Shaftesbury
2017 Group Show – Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth BH2 5BH
2017 Solo Exhibition, Knoll Gardens, Wimborne BH21 7ND
2017 Artist in Residence Knoll Gardens, Wimborne BH21 7ND
2017 Group Show – Shelley Theatre, Beechwood Ave, Bournemouth BH5 1LX
2016 Dorset Arts Week
2014 ‘Crepuscular’ The Crypt Gallery, St Pancras Church, Euston, London NB1 2BA
2013 ‘WhereHouse’ , Bermondsey Project, 46 Willow Way, London SE1
2013 Central Saint Martins Degree Show
2011 ‘For what it’s worth’ 3 – 5 Whitechapel, London
2011 Camden Arts Centre, London
2010 Valentines Mansion, Ilford, Redbridge
2009 Central Library Altered Books Exhibition, Bournemouth
2008 Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton
2008 The Gallery, Arts University Bournemouth, Bournemouth
Education
2013 Graduated Central Saint Martins, London BA Fine Art
2009 Arts University Bournemouth Foundation