Profile

I took up painting in 2008, am mostly self taught and paint in oils on fine linen canvasses – a medium which constantly surprises in terms of colour, tone and consistency of finish, which is part of the obsession and ensures constant learning.

I like to try and provoke thoughts in the viewer. Overall, my painting is trying to achieve a tension – what seems benign on the surface has twisted or unsettling messages on closer inspection.

Increasingly, I’m more focused on people and animals and they are now taking up most of the canvass, with landscape being less visible. The paintings can be from life or based on photographs usually in Black and White to enable interpretation of colour and tone.

Artists that inspire me include Bosch, Breughel, Goya, Dumas, Schiele, Gauguin, Munch, Van Gogh and Bacon.

I have recently completed a commission of two paintings for BP Shipping to celebrate their centenary with a group of artists, have exhibited with Six and the Nolias Gallery in London.