How I work/Statement

I don't go out looking for subjects - they find me.An idea forms and grows from some visual prompt.When I'm out or travelling I take photographs and make quick drawn marks or notes to record and remember things that have caught my attention.

I print the photographs and draw or stick pieces of collage onto them as a way of working through ideas.I'm interested in the visual effect that the use of other materials has when placed onto a painted surface.Also the removal of contextual visual references to challenge the viewers perceptions and preconceptions of something.

I've always been fascinated by powerful geological and elemental processes that shape landscape forms so this has always been a huge underlying theme.I work on 4 or 5 paintings at a time going from one to another applying layers of paint and other materials or rubbing away layers to reveal detail.My work develops slowly - how long each will take to finish I can never know at the outset.I particularly like the work of: William Scott, Fred Williams, Antoni Tapies and Prunella Clough.

 My work has been used in TV filming, most recently with Scottish ITV for the 'Rebus' drama series.

“Attempt what is not certain. Certainty may or may not come later. It may then be a valuable delusion.” Richard Diebenkorn