Paintings
Childhood & Animals
If we are lucky, as children we grow, learning how the world works. We entrust others with our wellbeing and lives, share experiences, discover our power and powerlessness, and during that time our reality and imagination merge.
As an artist, I try to retain that duality, where abstract thoughts can become visible through marks or colour, different times share space, and ideas are transformed into something real.
In these paintings, I witness and paint childhood, explore vulnerability, the transient nature of relationships, trust and power.
Angels
Throughout art history , from the Bible , Angels are Gods messengers, they guide us when we need help and link us with those who have passed. It is for these reasons I so often turn to them for creative and spiritual inspiration.
Still Life
“When in April the sweet showers fall
And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all
The veins are bathed in liquor of such power
As brings about the engendering of the flower”
These are the lines from the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. To me, they sum up my own joy at seeing the first flowers coming through, after a long grey winter, the welcome of spring, renewal and rebirth. Garden flowers and fruits, objects of significance. I gather them together to paint in my studio, in new spring light. They remind me of the transitory nature of life, and like Chaucer and his pilgrims, help me to celebrate a life lived, and journeys yet to come.
Places
I love Cornwall, and some places feel like they are in my very bones.
It was in Porthleven that I had my first proper studio after college, in the old Net Lofts, overlooking the harbour. The second floor offered a great space , views and subject matter, if little warmth during the winter months. During those years , local people, the unspoilt Cornish village and coastline provided the inspiration for a lot of paintings.
A large commissioned oil painting, depicting Archangel Michael hangs in All Saints Church, in the the seaside village of Marazion . A place that holds precious memories from childhood of family of holidays. Even now, looking across the sea to St Michaels Mount , it remains a special sight, no matter what the weather or time of year!
Politics
Social injustice, democracy and power, Man's inhumanity to man, greed and lies, Sacrifice, duty and love.
As I try to understand the world, these are just a few points of reference I have reflected on in this collection of small oil paintings on board. They are a part of the 100 Painted Vows series, which were made to mark significant events, as offerings or Ex Votives for a sacred site.
The Environment
Humans appear to have an unconscious drive to destroy our planet. So it is heartening to witness enlightened young people around the world working together to remind us of our urgent need to value what we have and recognise our planets fragility, our interdependence and the need to change behaviour.
The natural world and animals, remain ongoing themes in my work. These small oil paintings on board, are from the 100 Painted Vows series, made as offerings or Ex Votives.
Ex-Voto
There are many reasons I have been drawn to this traditional genre of painting over the years. The most compelling Ex Votives offer an immediacy, spiritual depth, and authenticity that can be more difficult to find in the ‘conventional art world’.
Each Ex Votive shares a narrative of what it is to be human , in the best and worst of times. Through these painted stories we are able to create structure and acknowledge dramatic events and miracles. They give us hope , that through these, we might rid ourselves of evil while giving thanks to God for improved circumstances or the end of our suffering and fear. I think of them as something tangible , proof of a sort which envisions our important experience or our need to pray . Someone described them as humble gifts, a sign of faith and superstition, so true .
Mystic paintings
I was in my twenties when I began to have strange experiences and premonitions , initially about my family and friends. Over many decades, I have learned a bit more about ‘psychic sensitivity’ and the phenomena. Until now, only a few people have known about this aspect of my life . But this year, I have been guided to share just a few of the paintings, in which I have incorporated my insights . Sometimes the information turns up out of the blue, or I hear or feel a message, other times I see what are considered to be spirits and they enlighten me .
In these particular paintings the subjects are public figures. I’m not an expert in the subject and my paintings are for entertainment only .
