About me

I trained as a theatre designer at London’s Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design. I worked in theatre, both in London and nationally and subsequently as art director for live television, notably Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast. My passion for drawing and painting began in 2008, when I went to live in Muscat, Oman, the biblical, mountainous landscape inspiring a first collection of Quink ink paintings. Recently, returning to my roots in the north east, taking a temporary studio at an auction mart, I was introduced to this rural theatre of livestock sales. I appreciate this unique opportunity to visually record a key part of farming within rural community. No one minds me being around with my sketch book, on busy auction days.

My drawing process: Live drawing is very important to me, it is being in that moment and making marks to capture an essence of the event. There isn’t time in an action drawing to overwork, I just try to capture what I can, the movement, energy and feeling as best I can. Charcoal, is a wonderful medium for this kind of drawing, making many and varied marks. The drawing will imprint itself onto another drawing when the sketch book is closed. I have become increasingly interested in these cross over markings, suggested movement and time passing, a before and after. They remind me of the paintings we made at school, half the paper painted, folded, then opened to reveal a magical butterfly.