Statement
My work has evolved organically into two main areas, portraits & flowers. Each painting is a process of many thin glazes, which adds vibrancy and luminosity. I’ve tried to achieve realism without losing a painterly quality.

Portraits
I’ve always been fascinated by the character evoked when studying the lines on a human face. Even though a portrait is just a snapshot in time or a split second in someone’s life, it can stimulate the imagination to envisage the subject’s whole life story. All the compositions are close up to attain a certain quality of personal intimacy. I have paid special attention to a detailing of the eyes to add a realistic dimension to the paintings. I definitely subscribe to the view ‘The eyes are the window to the soul’. The subjects range from Indian rural tribal men, a Yorkshire builder to Clive Anderson whom I admire greatly. I was delighted when he agreed to meet me in London to conduct a sitting.

Flowers
In 2010 I visited the Keukenhof Gardens in Amsterdam which has over a million tulips on display, and I was inspired by the beauty on offer. Flowers have always captivated me because of their texture, colour and form. I decided to focus on a close up viewpoint, filling the whole canvas with one entire flower. I’ve used multiple layers of paint to achieve the intense colours and depth, thereby giving the paintings a three dimensional quality. I have included water droplets in the composition because I love the way they interact with the fragility of the petal to give the flower a whole new dynamic.

Education
1986-1989
BA (Hons) Illustration
Manchester Metropolitan University