About the artist
I have over the years done artwork for friends and family mainly for the sheer joy of doing so, but then a friend asked me to do a commission of one of her horses, and my love of painting animals started there. I also enjoyed drawing a posthumous portrait of a very close family friend, even though it was quite an emotional subject for me to draw. I think that this experience has spurred me on to do more with portraits of people and hopefully there will be more pictures in my gallery over the next few months. My life took a change of direction in April 2009 when I was made redundant from my full time employment. It made me look at life a little differently and gave me an opportunity that I never thought I would get. My husband and I had lengthy conversations about me becoming a full time artist and we decided that if I did not do it now then I never would. My husband has been an incredibly positive influence in my new career choice and I could not have done it without his love and support. My parents have also encouraged me to become a full time artist and have supported me in only the way that loving parents could do, absolutely brilliantly. I am at my happiest when creating a piece of artwork, be it a portrait or an abstract painting or mixed media, I enjoy them equally as much. I consider myself to be incredibly lucky to be doing something that I am immensely passionate about and I love to see a blank canvas come to life. I hope you will enjoy looking at my artwork as much as I have enjoyed creating it. About my artwork  All of my work is shown in the gallery section. I consider myself to be quite versatile and try to cater for different tastes from the traditional acrylic painting portraits to the contemporary style of my abstracts and mixed media. I try to make my art affordable for any budget as you will see from my prices . I work using acrylics and pencil. I always preferred to use oils but unfortunately I can no longer use them as I cannot tolerate the smell of the brush cleaner as it affects my asthma. When painting my abstract art I also use different types of textured mediums to add interest, from thick modelling paste to granulated gels that can either be mixed with the paint or used directly onto the canvas and then painted over once dry. The tools that I use range from ordinary paint brushes of all different sizes and a collection of palette knives, but I will also use other things such as sponge, cardboard and other household implements that I think will create an interesting effect on canvas. Metallic paints play a large role in my abstract work as I love the way that they catch the light and in certain positions appear to be illuminated. Unfortunately, this effect is not always visible on the photographs. My oil and acrylic paintings are very detailed and can take some time to do. Because drying time is an issue I use a medium that is added to the oil paint, not only does it aid drying time but it also helps the flow and consistency of the paint and this allows me to do fine detail with more ease. I do not varnish my finished works as if I were to do so then it would take up to 6 months from completion of the painting before I would be able to safely apply the varnish without the possibility of ruining the picture. If the painting is to be hung in a room that is heated by radiators then no protection would be required. You need only dust the painting lightly once in a while to stop the build up of dust on the surface. However, if your painting were to be hung in a room with either an open fire or a wood burning stove then it would need to be protected behind non-reflective glass. I sign all of my oil paintings and drawings at the bottom of the picture, depending on where it would be less conspicuous and would not spoil the aesthetics of the painting. However, my abstracts are different as I allow the client to hang the painting whichever way they choose, therefore, I sign all abstracts on the back of the canvas along with the title and date. The mixed media is my newest addition and I love creating them. They give me the freedom to express myself without being tied to tiny details. I love to inject humour into my work, so all the artworks have a cheeky seagull or two lurking ready to pinch any unsuspecting onlookers chips. All the collage I use is taken from magazines, newspapers and other pamphlets such as tourist information leaflets I collect on my travels. The wording in the collage is all relevant to whatever area in the country I am working on, unlike some artits who use random scraps of papers. I want to evoke memories for the viewer of seaside holidays and warm hazy days of summer. If I can achieve that then I have done exactly what I set out to do. Commissioning artworkI can create paintings and artwork on request. To learn more please take a look at the sections below: |
From a very early age it became apparent to my parents that I had a flair for art as I was always drawing and painting at every opportunity. As I grew older my love for anything related to art grew and it became my main interest.