Women and Washing

I remember the exact moment I decided I had to paint a washing line. It was born as I stood outside with the damp sheets flapping gently,  the breeze on my skin and bird song around. The quality of light was unique to that moment.

I try to capture all this in my paintings along with a depiction of a part of a woman's experience that unites us across time and nationality. The struggle with wet linen,  moments alone outside, contact with your possessions, companionship - endless facets of life. Not forgetting that line drying is the oldest form of alternative energy and has no carbon footprint at all!


Peonies & other flowers

A flower is such a  mixture of delicacy and strength- complex and ever-changing with the light and movement of the sun.

I can't exactly describe what I seek to portray when I paint flowers: it is to find some sense of their overwhelming beauty in some way. I only know that it is a constant learning curve and I am getting better at it although I doubt I will ever reach my goal! But that is part of the game you play as an artist - ever-reaching for more insight, more skill - getting closer, ever-closer!

Drawings

 Drawing is a sheer and supreme pleasure. It is constantly challenging, constantly absorbing and offers myriad methods of expression.

I have drawn with many media and to every scale. When I start I can't get enough of it!




Life & dance studies

For me - Life studies begin with the model - who she is and what she communicates to me. Each model becomes the Muse of that moment. Then there is the utter luscious nature of the body itself - the placing of the limbs and the glorious luminosity of skin in the light.

Dance and movement are an extension of this - the body purposeful and expressive!

Malawi & the Gambia

My formative years were spent in Malawi and my ideas of human beauty were born of skins of every hue from coppery sheen to deepest blue-toned ebony. Later, in The Gambia, I fell in love with flowing robes, golden earrings and headgear of high fabric folds.

As far as landscape is concerned - the sun is a pencil and a brush that splashes brilliance against deep purple shadows. Yet, at dawn and dusk, there can be a palpable softness in the air.

Portraits

These were always my first love and I have flirted with portraits for my whole painting life.