Hello, thank you for visiting my website. I am a painter and illustrator basedon the North West coast.
I studied printmaking and illustration in the 1980s and went on to have a successful career as a professional illustrator, my work was sold worldwide in the form of greetings cards and in advertising, magazines and books. Later, I worked on art projects for many years with community groups, the NHS and in schools as an artist-in-residence.
More recently as my work has developed and I have moved away from the restrictions of commercial illustration I have focused on ways to represent the themes of love, loss and belonging. My paintings live within the realm of magical surrealism and have always been concerned with storytelling, often inspired by fairy tales, particularly the strong female characters and their relationship with enchanted creatures. I endeavour to explore and represent their magical charm through my work whilst symbolising real-life parallels – as in my personal relationship with the animal kingdom and my family.
The intention is to create a dreamlike scene of suspended drama within a natural landscape: an element of make-believe, so that each painting captures the otherworldliness which inhabits my imaginary narrative.
I have exhibited my paintings, prints and sculptural works around the UK in solo and joint shows over the past thirty five years at galleries including; Eden Gallery, Newburgh, Regatta Fine Art, North Norfolk, Royal Exchange Theatre , Manchester, Ferens Gallery in Hull, Chapel Gallery in Ormskirk and Bohemia Gallery, York.
This summer I’m exhibiting at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool and at various art markets in Lancashire, Merseyside and Yorkshire.
As a freelance illustrator, I worked on educational books, hundreds of greetings cards, textile design and advertising. My clients included Shared Earth Ltd, Collins Publishing, Canns Down Press, the Sri Lankan Tourist Board and The Booktrust amongst others. I mainly worked in watercolour and inks, moving onto papercut . I'm currently attempting to master Procreate, but progress is slow!