For the first few years of my 30 year painting career I confined myself to the studio, painting from photographs or still life studies. I then discovered the thrill of scuba diving which involved trekking off to far-flung parts of the British Isles, places I may never have considered visiting. The scenery was often breath-taking and with no studio available, the challenge was to capture the fleeting moment nature allowed me to see.
How could I get on paper what I was seeing? For one whole year I painted a sky every day, always on location. I gradually began to understand the advice of ‘paint what you see not what you know’. By the end of that year I felt able to capture the spirit of a scene and breathe some truth into my studio work.
Since then I have travelled with my paint box all over the world: the Greek Islands, the Canaries, Venice, Malta, Turkey, Spain, India and America. The pleasure in being able to instantly capture the spirit and ambience peculiar to each place is enormous.
I have produced a video demonstrating watercolour techniques which was sponsored by Pental and launched at the Artist & Illustrators exhibition at Earls Court. I am involved with the Mouth & Foot Society as a regular lecturer at their events and have been asked to give one to one teaching to some of their artists. I have travelled around the country giving art demonstrations and my aim on each occasion is to encourage other artists to get out there and paint on location rather than in the studio. Turner has been my inspiration from the start and my lectures include demonstrations of his style and approach.
The paintings in this collection cover a 5 year period and were selected from a larger collection of several different countries. The 3 larger canvases are painted in acrylics and were ‘worked up’ from location painted watercolours.
Since moving to Broadstairs from London in 2001 I have focussed on the beautiful East Kent coast although wherever I go on holiday my paint box goes with me.