My paintings tend to take me by surprise. When
they are going well, everything is satisfying and harmonious, the colours and
forms seem to pick themselves. At other times it’s a battlefield.
Attracted to myths and tales, I start a painting with only a loose idea of the finished work; a picture may take months (sometimes a couple of years) before it's complete. Living in many foreign places
as a child, other cultures and ideas have strongly impressed me. I use painting to explore areas which I can't express verbally, and which often involve using metaphors for ideas/feelings which don't seem to be readily recognised within current society.
Painting in acrylics allows inclusion of other materials, such as sand, earth,
ground marble, hair, wool, paper etc. Acrylics enable the build up of layers and veils giving
subtlety and nuance, while sometimes I use oils, which don't allow mixed media effects so easily.
I won a national art prize for schoolchildren when I was thirteen. I went on to study languages at university, and then art history at postgraduate level. I continued to paint and draw on my own, then studied under Patrick Oliver for several years.
Some past exhibitions include
Onzone Gallery, Stonegate, 2022
Brass Agency, Alma Road, Headingley
Kala Sangam arts centre, Bradford, 2017 Nov-Dec
Arch Cafe, Leeds city centre, May-July 2017
East Street Arts Open Studios, Leeds, July 2015
St Stephens Church (Kirkstall Arts Festival) July 2015
Holy Trinity Arts Centre, Leeds, (March 2014.)
Chapel Allerton ArtsTrail (August 2013)
Costello's Cafe, Headingley (July/August 2013)
Headingley LitFest, talk about feminine archetypes in the paintings (March 2013)
