I am a painter and printmaker based in Cambridge, UK. Growing up on Scotland’s east coast, I learned to sail when young and as a teenager, I enjoyed many voyages around the Hebridean Isles, an area that continues to pull me back on visits and sketching trips. This beautiful landscape continues to inspire with its fickle weather and constantly changing light. Back in the studio, sketches are reworked into paintings or monotype prints. I also enjoy painting domestic still-life compositions and table arrangements, from a single humble teapot to an array of everyday utilitarian items.  

Drawing has always been an important element in my work; in my late teens, I began fine art training in Italy in the European classical ‘atelier’ tradition under the close eye of ‘La Signorina’ Simi, a contemporary of ‘Il Maestro’ Pietro Annigoni, who was known for his fine royal portraits and who reviewed my early student work. This training honed my drawing and observational skills, providing a foundation for further studies in the UK followed by a career in graphic design and illustration and this formed the bedrock for all that followed in my artistic development.

My current seascape paintings are based on old maps which I attach to painting panels before painting the islands or coastline they represent, through which areas of the map can still be seen. In addition to these works, I continue to paint still-life, and landscape subjects. Water-based media lends itself to more spontaneous and experimental work, whilst oil paint demands a more considered approach. I often use this for my still-life work, but not exclusively. 

I take an exploratory approach and rather than follow conventional rules, I like to playfully explore the medium as I express my feelings for a place or for those items that hold a personal memory for me. Relying on both observation and imagination, I endeavour to transform my paintings into something profound and arresting, far removed from the everyday and yet also familiar to the observer.