At university during my undergraduate degree, I was heavily influenced by the Abstract Expressionists, such as Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Wassily Kandinsky and Willem Da Kooning, and the British poet Ted Hughes. These artists, and the work of Peter Lanyon and Graeme Sutherland, have stayed with me throughout my own development as a contemporary artist in the UK. During my MA in Fine Art, I explored more conceptual and mixed media forms, such as installation, photography and film, before returning to painting later.

My paintings are essentially about the world around me, and are an attempt to understand the systems and natural order of our existence. I am inspired by the landscape, its geography, topography, light, colour, texture and sense of place and space. As a visual artist, the physical natural environment gives me such a lot of visual stimuli to work with, and feeds my mental and imaginative landscapes to the point that I never work to ‘represent’ a place, but perhaps try instead to ‘inhabit’ that space within a painting.

I observe, think, read and watch, but the way I approach a painting is instinctive and process driven, working through a piece layer by layer, until the painting reveals itself to me. The substrate I begin with, always helps me form the initial marks, and so leads the process – a hard wooden surface is resistant and perfect for collage, texture and crisp line; a soft, smooth canvas perfect for thin, pouring applications and more careful brushwork. So, my starting points vary, depending on the surface, and the process develops with each thin, thick, translucent or opaque layer. Often, the paint is applied, and is scraped back to reveal stains, remains of colour layer over one another, and creating much more depth of colour. I spray, wipe, smudge and transfer, and paint some more. I was uncertain of colour for a long time, but through many explorations, my understanding of colour has grown considerably, and I take much care to mix up my colours on my palette, (rather than use them straight from the tube).

The physicality of the paint has always fascinated me, and I often use collage and non-traditional art materials in the creative process to prepare interesting surface texture on my canvas (I was known to use bitumen and other toxic materials as an undergraduate, which I baulk at now). I often let gravity, and perhaps the laws of physics, be part of the process – allowing the paint to puddle, drip, splash and blend on its own, but with guidance from me as I carefully choose the paint colour, consistency and composition. I prop up the painting for drips to move the paint, or work on the floor, allowing puddles to form, merge and blend. Working on the floor also allows me a real sense of freedom from being stuck in a conventional composition with a top, middle and bottom, and the ability to walk round and around a piece, seeing it from all angles. This way, the composition stays balanced and even, but is always much more exciting and dynamic. There are often strong contrasts in my paintings – such as light and dark values, soft and hard edges, smooth and textured areas, colour opposites that are at once harmonious and surprising.