Profile:
BA[Hons] Visual Art, and MA Painting from University of Wales
Art Teachers' Certificate, Goldsmiths' College, London
Early teaching posts were in London and Dorset, and I then lived in Munich for a short time. I am now once again based in the Midlands, dividing time between Warwickshire and Derbyshire.
Currently head of a school department encompassing Fine Art, History of Art and Design and Technology, I have always continued to develop my own work as an artist whilst teaching and firmly believe the two activities to be mutually beneficial: my work is informed as much by my students’ responses as I hope theirs is by my active engagement with the artistic process.
November 2009 elected an Associate of the Society of Graphic Fine Artists.
Statement:
My work combines close observation with imagination.
I am drawn to a range of subjects and frequently produce a series of pictures in order to explore a particular theme through a variety of techniques and compositions. Drawing is vital and underpins all my work, whether in the form of preparatory sketches and experiments or as completed pieces in their own right.
Architectural forms, still life and landscapes are all sources of inspiration. Through my own emotional response to the subject, the aim is to enhance the viewer's perception of images that might otherwise be taken for granted.
Whether highly detailed or deceptively simple, the focus is on formal elements such as perspective and composition. A subtle change of viewpoint or arrangement of shapes can significantly affect the mood of a work.
Colour and texture come into play too and my preferred medium of watercolour enables images to emerge from many transparent layers of paint. I do also use oils, however, and enjoy the never-ending possibilities of mixed-media techniques. Early works were principally reliefs, and elements of this "sculptural" interest remain in my preference for working on toned, sculpted or textured paper. This is particularly the case with drawings. Surfaces may well be constructed from three-dimensional layers of canvas or board, or papers may be collaged together before work begins. I interpret the term “drawing” in itself as widely as possible.
One-Person Shows:
• 1997, 2003 & 2008 The Coach House Gallery, Guernsey
• 2004 The Owen Taylor Gallery, Warwick
• 2008 & 2009 Charlecote Park, Warwickshire
Selected Exhibitions:
• 1990, 1991, 1992 works included in John Laing Competition
• 1999 Birmingham Botanical Gardens
• 1999/2000 Christmas Exhibitions, St. David's Hall, Cardiff
• 1999-2009 Gallery Artists' Exhibitions, Coach House, Guernsey
• Autumn 2001 exhibition at Thompson's Gallery, Stow on the Wold
• December 2004 and 2007 Derby City Art Gallery Open exhibition
• June 2005 Little London Gallery, Holloway, Derbyshire Open Exhibition [prize winner]
• August 2005 "Paper Chase" exhibition, Nature In Art, Gloucester [in conjunction with an exhibition of Matisse's paper cuts]
• Spring 2007 West Midlands Open at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Residencies
• Nature in Art, Gloucester October 2006
• Charlecote Park, Warwickshire 2008-9
Works have been accepted for open exhibitions at:
• Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
• Birmingham Botanical Gardens
• "Not the Royal Academy", Llewelyn Alexander gallery, London
• The Royal Watercolour Society
• Society of Graphic Fine Artists.
Works may currently be seen at:
• Warwickshire artists website: www.warwickshireartists.co.uk
• Charlecote Park Orangery [National Trust], Charlecote, Warwickshire.
• The Coach House Gallery, Les Islets, St Pierre du Bois, Guernsey.
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