I taught Art for a number of years and since I retired have found time to develop my own ideas.

I am inspired by the shapes of fruit, flowers, pots, plates, jugs, textiles and the household objects I see around me at home. I am interested in making an arrangement of positive and negative shapes, flat colours and patterns rather than an accurate depiction of the scale and perspective.

I use linocut as I enjoy the structure and the tactile process of carving. I work from observation and then play around with composition until I arrive at a design I am happy with. I enjoy the way the image develops from the original drawing as I interpret shapes and lines which then become simplified and have a strong graphic look.

There are constant decisions to make as to how to interpret the original design. There are so many variations in making the marks on the surface of the lino block combined with the amount of ink and pressure used. Very often the resulting images may not be perfect and this is what gives them their character. The main reason I print is the excitement I feel each time I peel back the paper to reveal the image beneath. At this point I can see whether the decisions I have taken along the way result in a print that will either work or not.

Winner of the Air Arts Award (2019)