I work as an artist in Teesdale, a beautiful unspoilt area of Northern England. I am a member of the Teesdale Artists Network and each year members of the group open their studios for a few days offering members of the public the opportunity to talk to and find out more about the working methods and ideas of a wide range of professional artists.
I am studying part-time for a Fine Art degree at Sunderland University which I have found to be a very rewarding experience. I concentrated on painting, drawing, printing and video in my first year and have enjoyed the opportunity to study art with many different people and to experiment with different media and contemporary ideas.
I have become very interested in the extent to which an artist has to trust instinct and to allow the materials used a certain freedom; improvising and working with the characteristics of the materials used, and committing to marks made. I found this to be more important than tightly controlling images as it often produces unforeseen, exciting outcomes and enables me to be free with my imagination as the marks develop.
I want to continue this exploration of balancing preparation and freedom in my work and I am now working on a larger scale. I am developing figurative paintings from drawings, photographs, digital drawings and prints. At the moment, I am inspired by the works of Matisse, Kiki Smith, Francesco Clementes and Alex Katz.
