The Artist

I excelled at art in school but was unable to attend Art College nonetheless figure drawing and landscape sketching have been a constant interest of mine. When my children were young I enjoyed attending watercolour painting classes at Craven College where I was able to develop basic techniques and produce pieces of landscape work. My family responsibilities eased about five years ago and I was then able to develop my art skills further under the tutelage of a local professional artist and at Colne and Nelson College.

My work has been exhibited in various galleries within the North West. I enjoy working in a variety of mediums but mostly use acrylics. Atmosphere is an important aspect of my work. One way I seek to capture it is by the restriction of my colour palette thereby producing monochrome images. I do not limit myself to any one subject matter. I paint that which excites my interest.

The opportunity to provide illustrations for the three books - Puppy Dog's Tales; Old Three Laps and On Safari with Suzie - have allowed me to experiment with incorporating humour into my drawing. I have sought to achieve this not just by caricaturisation but also by depicting comic settings for the composition. Doubtless future pieces will be influenced by this experience. 

Colour is a phenomenon in which I take great delight and the effect of light on opaque and translucent surfaces provides endless opportunities for experimentation. One of my favourite art ensembles is that produced by Seraphine de Senlis (Seraphine Louis) other bodies of work I favour are those by Tamara de Lempicka, Georgia O'Keefe and Edward Hopper, the "Art Deco" style I particularly like.