Artist
Painting at Passchendaelle
I make art mainly because I enjoy the creative process. It’s a lot of fun making thingsand sharing them with other people! But I also have to create art-it is within me and needs to be brought out into the world. It is a force that needs me to create my art. It tells stories of our experiences and the way we live our lives.
I have always wanted to have an interesting life, not to be boring and by doing the work that I do as an artist helps me achieve that interesting life! It means I live to my true life, the me I want to be.
I want also to show my sense of the world to others—my way of understanding, engaging and experiencing the world to others through what I create. I want others to experience the world that I can see now and how it could be in the future. Happy, compassionate, kind, caring, friendship and together. That is what matters to me.
I started creating art in September 2008 when I was bored. I had taken voluntary redundancy from being a professional wildlife conservationist with Natural England in 2007 and worked freelance for a year for Peterborough Environment City Trust which had just finished. Boredom created me as the artist that I never ever expected to be. One day I just went out and bought a large canvas and some paints, sat at my kitchen table and created my first large painting since I was a child. That first painting still sits on a wall in my house reminding me of those early days and how my work has changed but how I have also stayed true to that original work.
For me, being an artist means that I create something that makes the viewer think differently about a place, a subject, themselves, their community, events or a moment in time and ultimately that may mean they take action as a result of this. I make a record of a time, a place or events whilst giving a more pleasurable and happy experience to people who see the art or who are involved in the art that I make. But mostly art enables me to live so that I can be more aware of the world and what’s happening in it, to question things in a way that enables others to think and experience life, to express my passion and thoughts and to nurture myself and others through my creativity and expression. Being an artist is for me a gift that means I can fully live my life in a way that is truly authentic to me and benefits others and the world around us.
Anyone who creates art can call themselves an artist. I think the differentiation comes as a good artist creates work that turns their energy and creativity into something beautiful that connects with others. Its very much about the emotions it creates in others. Making art gives me some sort of control in a chaotic world.
I am often asked what am I thinking of when I paint? To be honest I often are not thinking of anything specifically. I am lost in the process of creating with colour, flowers and nature, and trusting myself as the process evolves. letting go of the everyday so that each piece comes from the heart. Its difficult to say what I want to say through my art as I create from my emotions and feelings rather than a specific subject. I guess I would describe my work as intuitive and imaginative, showing the beauty of the natural world in a colour burst that makes people smile and feel happy. That gift of happiness is an important driver in my creative process!
I want always to be brave enough to try new techniques and methods and new subjects as they appear in my thoughts.
As a wildlife conservationist and as an artist I want to convey the beauty of nature in art that will inspire others to nurture and take action for the world in which we all live. The art arises from the observations, experiences and emotions from the nature that we encounter.Meaningful art will not only show the outward appearance of nature but will also bring its inner significance to light in a way we may not have felt before. The love of nature transcends boundaries of time, place and cultures and can bring people and communities together all over the world in a common goal and passion. To experience nature is to experience life with all its emotions gathered together in pleasure, sadness and hope. Art replicates this in a human expression. If you experience the completeness of nature, hold it to you in love and then you will find a peace and strength of understanding that was not there before.
Art and nature are a partnership made of love, inspiration and beauty. The knowledge and stories that I have from my professional conservationist days meld in harmony with the art that flows from me now and will in the future. I love the natural world and I love art. May it always be so…….
Picture on the right: The Three Kings Ferry Meadows Country Park
Wedding & Event Paintings
The day you say “I do” is one of the most special moments in your entire life. Whether you’re engaged, just thinking of getting married or have been together for years, your wedding day is special and is about you and your partner and the love you celebrate together. A marriage is the most powerful commitment that can be made between two people.
A wedding painting created especially for you is a personal memento of that special day which is a beautiful memory, an emotional reminder of the feelings of the day. Something to be treasured forever as you journey through life together.
Its me the artist going to your wedding, a day full of happiness and love, and taking the emotions, moods, colours, flowers and inspiration from the day and creating a unique piece of art of that day (and mostly on the day) especially for the bride and groom or whoever commissions the work. Its not about painting the exact scene. Its about capturing your day in emotions and colours.
Workshops
Workshops are being together, meeting new friends or joining with old ones to laugh and experience a day like no other. In a relaxed place we all learn from each other with guidance where needed. These days are about you and your creativity, what you want to express, the colours you love that make you feel great, its your time to have a go and explore yourself, the place and your emotions in a painting.