The landscape I was born into was that of Wiltshire, a county of large fields and endless skies. Landscapes are both my passion and my preoccupation. I walk, draw and record images in my notebooks, images that I work with and rework over time. My images may be described as semi abstract impressionistic in both technique and subject matter, and both strong and unsentimental in tone. My interest is mainly looking at the bones of the land and painting the living landscape of rural places.
My leap into the profession began when I attended The Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, from which graduated with honours in fine art and ceramics in 2001. Since that time I have worked consistently as a full-time artist in Ireland until I re located to the southwest in September 2015.
In 2004, I was awarded a bursary to study at The Tyrone Guthrie Centre in
Annaghmakerrig, where I used the time to prepare for a solo show at the O'Sullivan
Bewick Gallery in Enniskerry in 2005. In September of that year, my work was
exhibited at the International Art Fair in Cannes. I continued to build up my
professional standing with paintings in group shows throughout Ireland. I have been
selected for a number of open submission shows, including shows by Aigse,
Oireachtas, the Mermaid and have twice been selected for the Royal Hibernian Academy Dublin summer show.
I had a successful solo show at the Dame Street Gallery Dublin, where two of my
paintings were purchased by the Office of Public Works. The OPW also purchased
another piece of work in 2008. In 2009, I was fortunate enough to be the first artist
invited to show in the gallery at the Regional Centre for Comhaltas
Ceoltoiri Eireann in Dublin, when it was officially opened by President Mary
McAleese.
In 2011 I was awarded a five-week residency in North West Greenland. This was part sponsored by the Irish Arts Council and also supported by the Danish Embassy in Ireland. It resulted in an exhibition in the museum of Upernavik Greenland, a show hosted by the Danish Ambassador in Dublin and later a show in Wexfords JFK Arboretum.
Relocating to the UK has taken time and I am only now beginning to work again but I know the practice of a visual artist should never be static and I am doing my best to depict the English landscape in a manner that makes me and my viewers know they have walked the fields, coastlines and woods of this stunning island with me.