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Born in Birmingham in 1957 my formal art education began with a foundation studies at Bourneville School of Art in 1974/75. This progressed through to my BA in Fine Art at Stourbridge College of Art and culminated with a MA in Printmaking at the Royal College of Art in 1982. Throughout these years while specialising in various printmaking disciplines I was continuously drawing and slowly teaching myself to paint.
After graduating from the Royal College of Art I had the good fortune to work as a copperplate printer and plate maker at various professional studios in London. These first hand experiences had a profound effect on me, and so whilst allowing me to develop my skills as an Etcher, it also brought me into contact with a varied cross section of professional artists. The resulting feed back and exchange of ideas proved invaluable and gave me huge confidence in the potential of my own work.
By now my prints and paintings were attracting the attention of Art Galleries and Art Dealers and the resulting success and sales of my work through exhibitions, art fairs, and commissions both at home and abroad allowed me to direct most of my time to my own painting and printmaking projects. I was always dividing my time between painting and printmaking, and using the working disciplines and methods of both practises to influence each other.
More recently I have changed location from London to the south east coast of England and to the faded grandeur of St.Leonards. This has resulted in a change in my working practises, with more emphasis now placed upon my time as a painter. This decision to concentrate more on my paintings has left me with a great feeling of liberation and expectancy.
For as long as I can remember my work has been concerned loosely with the general theme of landscape. While working in London my major source of inspiration was the 'cityscape' with its energy and motion, its constantly evolving architecture, and its changes of rhythm throughout the day and night.
More recently my move from London to the south coast has inevitably presented me with a dramatic change of visual experiences and references. Although on closer inspection this change of environment has concentrated and crystallised many of my earlier ideas. The landscape that now surrounds me is constantly changing; it is after all a working environment with its own rhythms dictated by nature and commerce. The quality of light reflected off the sea and onto the landscape can appear quite magical one moment and then change to dark and brooding quite quickly. The changing colours of the sky, and its effect upon the countryside, is a constant source of wonderment.
These are all the external environmental stimuli that influences me, but primarily I am a studio based artist, and I draw most of my inspiration from being in the studio environment. I like to be surrounded by the tools of my trade, the paint brushes and tubes of colours, ink tins and rubber rollers, packs of paper and bundles of unprimed canvas. Visually these things interest me; they feel good to the touch, and when I enter the studio each morning afresh the smell of paint and canvas welcomes me to work. From the walls of my studio hang paintings finished or nearly complete but all offering up new ideas and starting points for the next image.
I try to be in the studio everyday if possible, often working late or sometimes just sitting quietly and looking at what has been done before, maybe just sweeping the floor and cleaning my brushes. Whatever the activity the need to be in the studio environment is paramount to my working practices.
The resulting works are of an abstract nature sometimes with recognisable elements in them, but I try to avoid site specific images, and do not consider myself a topographical artist. I work with generic themes and work through ideas and themes of my own making.
If at the end of this process the resulting images somehow touch the viewer’s sensibilities for a moment, then the artists work is complete. The artwork only truly comes alive when it leaves the artists studio and enters the 'real world'.
I always work on several pictures at a time, moving easily between images, working freely and intuitively, teasing out the subject matter from the surface of the canvas. The subject is always the same, giving life to paint on paper or canvas. The real issues of painting are always mark making, colour harmonies, composition and balance. The final image is only ever really a vehicle for these formal qualities, and if you manage to get this balance correct you will hopefully give your picture life.
I nearly always paint using acrylics, I like the range of surface qualities that are available to me, and the quick drying times of heavy impasto areas and rich pigmented flooded areas are a real bonus when working on more than one work.
I rarely ever work from pre-conceived ideas, nor do I work from copious preliminary drawings. The starting point for most of my paintings can often be an unusual cloud formation, or a panoramic view illuminated in a dramatic way, or just an interesting composition of buildings and fields. I prefer to let the image evolve from each successive mark or brushstroke giving to the image what it needs to exist. Sometimes this process is very rapid, and you know that the work is complete after the minimum off time. At other times the pictures reveal themselves slowly after heavy and prolonged overworking.
Each new image presents its own problems and challenges, but always throws up new and endless possibilities. My time in the studio is a time of learning and discovery, I feel that if the final image is already pre-determined, why continue?
My day usually starts early with a short journey to my studio, this is a pleasant time for me. It gives me the chance to clear my mind of any negative thoughts and to organise myself for the day ahead. I like the fact that the studio is away from my home, it’s good to arrive and to leave, and if nothing else I can delude myself I have a' proper job '.
The first few minutes in the studio and the resulting viewing of the previous days painting with fresh eyes is critical to the day’s progress. These first few moments tell me much about how a painting looks and what if anything it needs. The structure of my day then varies according to the needs of whatever images I am working on. I may paint all day, maybe start some new images, or even destroy works that I feel to be weak. The act of destroying is almost as important as the creative side to my day. Perhaps I need to order more paints and other materials and there are usually phone calls to be made and messages to be answered. Maybe I need to wrap paintings for storing, or dispatch prints in cardboard tubes to a gallery. Sometimes I will sit quietly for a while surrounded by my paintings and try to be 'there in the moment’.
At other times art dealers may call at my studio to look at new works, or perhaps friends and colleagues from nearby studios drop in and then the structure of my day may change. To be able to work full time requires a lot of self discipline and motivation. I have this but I also like to feel that I am open to any new possibilities that the day may hold such as walks in the fresh air looking at my surroundings, or long lunch breaks with friends.
As evening draws in and the light quality fades, the working day must end. I quickly tidy up and clean brushes or rollers. I then usually review for a while, what, if anything has been achieved this day and make mental notes for the next day - usually to be ignored. The music that has been my constant companion for the day is switched off and the door to my studio closed and locked.
I try to end the day whenever possible by a drive or walk along the sea front near home. The reflecting lights and the motion of the water always leaves me feeling that, whatever the day has revealed, what I do is somehow worthwhile.
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