About

About me

Sketching in the Peak District

I have been painting and drawing from an early age and received BA Hons in Fine Art and Film at Leeds University. I then had a long gap, travelling, bringing up a family and working in a variety of jobs, including working with people with special needs, teaching and gardening. I grew up in South Manchester and developed a love of the hills which I could see distantly from my bedroom, exploring them with my father who was a keen walker. I then lived in the Lake District, Ireland and Norfolk, moving back up North in 1999. I now live in Sheffield, near the Peak District, re-engaging with my love of painting.

I take my inspiration from my love of rugged scenery and the elements especially the huge variety of landscape throughout Yorkshire and Derbyshire. I like walking in hills and mountains and sketching directly from nature, trying to catch the atmosphere and aliveness of wild places. I work by walking and sketching outside, absorbing the atmosphere and working up my observations into paintings in the studio. I use a variety of media depending on the subject matter. My work is constantly changing - with my mood, the weather and my environment. Painting for me is a solitary, almost meditative activity and I need to create a lot of space around it to see what emerges. I try to avoid the pretty or predictable. I love colour but don't like to be fixed to a particular style.

My current work is inspired by edges of things – land, sea, environment – from the crags of the Pennines to the cliffs and shoreline of Yorkshire and beyond. Using a variety of media I explore the patterns created by the elements and the marks of time.

I have exhibited widely, including solo exhibitions, at various venues throughout Yorkshire and the North.

If you are interested in any of the paintings please contact me

Sheffield Open Studios 2015

Exhibitions
Village Gallery, Colliergate,York Feb to July 2020
Art in the Gardens, Sheffield
Gallery 35 Chapel Walk, Sheffield with Walkley Edge March 2017
Ruskin Exhibition Millennium galleries, Sheffield 2015
Blue Moon Cafe with Walkley Edge Artists 2015
Art & Rose Gallery, Pocklington, East Yorkshire   June 2014, July 2015
Edges: (Solo exhibition) Cafe 68, Gillygate, York. Jan - Feb 2014
York artists' Christmas exhibition     December 2013
Cupola gallery Winter exhibition    December 2013
Sledmere House; Art in the Farm   May 2013
Workstation Sheffield ‘Off the Wall’ with Walkley Edge. Oct 2012
Circle Gallery, Sheffield   with Walkley Edge. Aug – Sept 2012
Gallery at The Spa Bridlington.(3 artists) March 2012
Hare's Leap, Flatts Farm, Scarborough.(Solo exhibition). May 2012
Whitestone Gallery, York (with Malcolm Ludvigsen) Feb 2012
                                             & Christmas exhibition 2010
South Street Gallery, Scarborough, Winter exhibition 2011-12
Triton gallery, Sledmere House (4 artists) June 2011 & Aug 2010
The Butterfly Rooms, Saltaire. August /Sept 2011
Wolds Gallery, Staxton, Scarborough, Summer exhibition July 2011
Broomhill Festival: Featured artist.    June 2011
Back o' the Shop Gallery, Terrington. (Solo exhibition) March 2010
Best of Derbyshire Watercolour, Wirksworth Festival Sept 2010
Sewerby Hall Summer exhibition July 2009
Helmsley Arts Centre, Yorkshire ( 3 artists) June 2009
Fulford gallery, Fishergate York Oct 2008
Triton Gallery, Sledmere House, Driffield, E. Yorkshire. Light on landscape (3 artists) Sept 2008
Helmsley Town Hall, Yorkshire. Heavenly Bodies and Earthly Delights (group exhibition) June 2008
Yorkshire Landscapes (with Malcolm Ludvigsen) Worsley Arms, Hovinghan, Yorkshire May 2008