About

About me

My motivation to pick up a brush and paint, comes from seeing something that has captured my imagination. It might be the way sunlight filters through the curtains, or the muted colour of an old barn on a wintry morning. Perhaps it's the striking contrast of a bright orange buoy floating beside a small blue boat. It’s like a ‘painting diary’ for me, images that are unique to my sense of beauty, a scene that I saw that captured my imagination. I want to translate that magical feeling of rapture in my paintings.

I try to get my students to feel the same connection  with their chosen subject too, that’s why I feel its important for them to choose what to paint, either a photo they’ve taken or to set up a still life of objects that resonates with them. 

I live and breathe what I do. Finding blogs, podcasts, books, all talking to me about capturing colour and light in oils. I am a painting bore, but I love it, its all consuming!

My desire to make a painting a success means I don’t easily give up on a painting, I fight it until I’m done with it, as I learn so much about myself and tackling challenges that it’s therapeutic in many ways.

I systematically mix all my paints ahead of the painting so that as soon as I pick up the brush and start painting my brain switches from left mode to right and I’m lost in the canvas. I lose track of time and the only thing I want to do is paint. I struggle to pull myself away after hours of painting, though I know I need to!

I sometimes struggle to express exactly what I’m thinking, but painting and teaching allow me to do so in a way that feels natural. That’s where I find my confidence and truly come into my own. I’m passionate about color, and the challenge that each subject brings to the canvas excites me.