23 years ago I gave up my profession as an architect to pursue motherhood and to start an outdoor education business with my husband. During this time I attended a number of short courses with Piers Ottey (Mill Studio, Arundel) who gave me direction and practical grounding in painting and at West Dean College, Sussex for a variety of courses culminating in the two year Diploma in Art and Contemporary Craft finishing with a distinction in 2024.
My work is strongly figurative, driven by a growing interest in meaning and purpose within each piece. Surface is also becoming increasingly significant in my process, and I’m enjoying pushing and experimenting with it as an expressive and conceptual element. Occasionally I deviate towards the abstract when I am playing around with ideas!
My work is often inspired by nature, whether it is animals, trees, or a sculpted landscape and then exploring our human connection to it. The subjects have to speak to me and generally there is a formal aspect to the work, whether this is using line or colour or an arrangement to enhance placement and to anchor the piece. As a former architect, ‘structures’ play an important part of the execution and I work with a number of mediums such as paint, wood, wire, film, plaster and clay. There is often a narrative hidden in the work, mainly about loss or connection and I use geometry and structure to enhance these elements and aim to capture a moment in time when all of these elements collide.
In 2022/23 I had a year of cancer treatment and I am now fortunate to be back painting/making as much as I can!
I am currently working towards a solo exhibition at The Oxmarket Gallery in August 2026 (3-16th) where I am exploring trees, their beauty and their tenacity to survive at all odds (a metaphor for life!).