'My work is the expression of a lifelong affinity with the landscape. I live on the North Yorkshire coast of the UK, and this location is a constant source of inspiration to my artwork. My interest lies not in making a literal representation of nature but rather in celebrating the physical sensory experience of land and sea, and I hope to capture some of that energy on paper and canvas. Conservation of the landscape and its wildlife is very important to me and I regularly take part in beach cleans, and environmental and animal rights campaigns. I have been a conservation volunteer with the North York Moors National Park since 2006, working on tasks such as tree planting and butterfly habitat management – this feeds into my work as a landscape artist and enriches the artwork I create.

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Recently drawing and collage have been central to my work and I like to combine pastel, charcoal and graphite to explore mark-making. In my abstract work, associations arise from the colours and lines – a fresh green may be reminiscent of new foliage in springtime, a round shape may recall pebbles smoothed by the waves. The paintings are reworked several times with a gradual layering of paint and oil sticks (oil paint in solid form) are often used to integrate drawing and painting. Influences include Abstract Expressionism (particularly Willem de Kooning), Joan Eardley, Cy Twombly and Cornish art.

 

I have exhibited extensively across the UK, including with the Royal Academy of Arts, the Society of Women Artists, and the Pastel Society UK, London. I’m honoured to have won several awards for my work such as The Arts Club Charitable Trust Award, the Haworth Prize, and the Unison Colour Young Artists Award, and I’m thrilled to also be an Associate Artist of Unison Colour. It was a huge honour in 2017 to be elected a member of the prestigious Pastel Society, London. My work is included in private collections across the UK and Europe, Africa, Mexico, the US, Australia and Singapore.'