Career
Ideas
I employ colour, shape, and texture to establish balance and harmony, layering various media and marks to develop a rich, textured surface. I work with with paint, collage, printmaking, and textiles.
My current textile work explores the thousands of tiny details that we encounter every day, from the labels in clothes, bus timetables, shopping lists, teaspoons and lockless keys, to the weeds in my neglected garden. Kurt Schwitters, Robert Rauschenburg, Alice Kettle and Jean Littlejohn all provide elements of influence, as well as weathered surfaces, boxes of old photos and tins of old nick-nacks found at car boot sales.
I started to explore textile media after a trip to Finland where I was able to work with weaving, felt and screen printing. Trips to India and Thailand inspired me to use bold and even discordant colours, together. The marks created by the sewing machine added a new drawing and joining tool to my toolbox.
When painting, I prefer the surface of wood, as this can be incised, cut up or stuck onto easily. I enjoy scratching the surface, and rubbing back layers of paint to create texture which can echo the textures in my textile work. Whilst I regard these pieces as abstract compositions which do not start with a recognisable form, I connect them to a place or experience after completion, naming them accordingly.
Development of Work
I completed a degree in Fine Art Painting in Manchester in 1990, where my work involved large scale assemblages which combined objects, paint and textural media; I was interested in creating a balance and a tension between these elements.
Since then I have continued to be interested in linking seperate and often unrelated elements, moving them around as if working out a jigsaw puzzle, until I feel they 'fit' or belong.
I move between painting, textiles, collage on paper and experimenting in my sketchbook in my practice, working from my home studio in Brighton, and out in the landscape. I take photographs and draw to record surfaces, colours and compositions.
Recent Exhibitions
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GloohBaah Open House, Brighton Artists' Open Houses 2012-2023
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Luna Moon Open House in Brighton, various exhibitions since 2015.
Solo Exhibition at Ropetackle Arts Centre, 2014.
MADE Craft Fair in Brighton, featuring various exhibitions from 2013 to the present.
Upstart Eco Shop and Gallery at Dynamite Gallery, Brighton, 2021.
Worthing Open, 2021-22.
Sussex Contemporary, 2022.
Atelier Open in Brighton, 2022 and 2023.
Chalk Gallery in Lewes, guest artist in February 2023.
Solo exhibition at Colonnade House Gallery, Worthing, in July 2023.
Art at Number 10 during the Brighton Open House, 2024.
Tichborne Gallery group exhibition, 2024.
Chalk Gallery in Lewes, artist member from 2024 to the present.
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