I was brought up in beautiful countryside on the outskirts of Belfast. I now live and work just outside Edinburgh overlooking the River Forth, and a love of the countryside and rural life remains deep within me. Here I'm surrounded by stunning natural landscapes and I take great inspiration from the cyclical rhythms of nature and the interplay of seasonal light upon the land.

 

I gather ideas for my paintings by drawing and sketching en plein air - working in a fast and responsive way with marks that are both expressive and intuitive. Often the resulting images are finished pieces in their own right and others are starting points for more considered pieces back in the studio.  

 

My painting surfaces are always heavily prepared with mixed media - charcoal, ink, paint, pastel, collage and pencil. Working from my sketches I use my observations to remember the landscape and the moment. This memory forms the body of the work and reflects my emotional response to being in a particular place at a particular moment in time. From the first flash of spring green in the woods to the blinding yellow of summer crops, the marks and brush strokes evoke the energy of the landscape and describe my memory of it at that moment in time.

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