Born in Toronto, Canada, I have lived in the south of England for over 30 years and am a graduate in Intellectual History from Sussex University.

I have not received any formal training in the arts and my work is the product of an enquiring mind, my creativity, energy and enthusiasm.


Creative Furniture

An innovative design process is used to produce the pieces that are made from reclaimed solid English oak and other recycled materials, making the furniture very eco friendly. Each of the pieces is unique, representing different styles and finishes, and is affordable due to the low cost of the materials used. 

Reclaimed timber, which is often scarred, damaged or cracked is used wherever possible which causes a rustic effect.

I try to retain the natural essence of the wood by keeping the natural lines including the bark area. Scars from saws that are too deep to remove without altering the overall look of the wood have been left, and while most of the material is in good condition, it has previously been left to waste, and has been treated as required.

A creative process is applied to the design of each of the pieces whereby the wood is worked ‘with’ instead of attempting to make it fit into the prescribed and more traditional perception of what a piece of furniture should look like, or how it should be made.

Metal fasteners are only used where applicable and I rely on joining the pieces of wood with an inventive use of the wood itself, dowling, glues and fixatives.

Each piece of furniture has a solid wooden top set with a custom designed base, back or legs. The result is a unique design, that can stand alone as an outstanding piece of art while retaining just the right amount of practicality and appeal.

Wood dye, oil and varnish are used to enhance and preserve the wood’s natural colour and beauty and to protect surfaces from day to day use.


Relief Sculpture

The Process:

I create my paintings using either real subjects or a photographic image, depending on availability. When starting a painting I first decide on and find my subject. The large pieces can take up to six weeks to complete, and selecting my subject is therefore a big decision. I choose the background to be used and start to think about the colour. I sketch the composition until I am happy that it is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and, when everything is in place, I enlarge the drawing onto the canvas. I then begin to apply the putty and to sculpt the levels that are to protrude from the canvas. Finally the putty is sanded and I apply the paint to enhance the tones and depth of the image.

I love to be surrounded by flowers and am able to dry some of them successfully. These have been retained to form a collection that has become a sort of memorabilis forming the basis of the ‘dead flower’ series of my work.

Many of the paintings are minimalistic, using flat colour while the shadows created by the built up areas provide the tone. I have created a series of pieces in ivory white, some with a splash of colour, which are more in keeping with the style of ancient relief sculpture.

    Casting

I have created three series of moulds to date, using rubber to cast the original sculptures to enable me to make limited edition series of 50 casts, which can be likened to print making.

Each piece is hand cast, sanded and finished before the paint is applied. The moulds are available at a lower cost than the original sculptures as they take much less time to make. They are made to order and are therefore available in a choice of colours. It should be noted that plaster casts can be delicate and should be handled in the same way you would handle a china plate.

    Wall Sculpture

The relief sculptures on canvas are also available as three dimensional wall sculptures adding a natural focal point to any space whether it be a living room, hall or office interior. A wall sculpture makes an affordable and interesting alternative to a print or painting and will transform the area it occupies.

I am able to work on site, applying the materials directly onto the wall. The sculpture is then sanded and painted in a choice of colours to fit in with the surrounding décor. Any of the existing designs already produced on canvas are available and all commissions are considered.

The Source of the Imagery:

The flowers provide the sensual shapes, contours and lines that throw their own shadows on the work depending on the source of light. Some of the pieces are finished using deep colours which are rich and vibrant and lend themselves well to the final sculpted work, while the tactile surface of both the coloured and plain pieces is both pleasing and interesting to the sense of touch. The materials and medium reflect the relationship between the forms which are created and the canvas from which they protrude and I see my work as a link between painting and sculpture, taking the best of both mediums to create pieces of art that people are irresistibly drawn towards to look at more closely and touch.

The ‘dead flower’ series is based on the use of wilted or dead flowers as the subject matter and can be likened to the genre of artistic creations of the Memento mori artists of the 17th century. The Latin phrase translates as "Remember you must die," the purpose being to remind people of the inevitability of death, and thereby their own mortality. Or the genre of the Still Life that was formerly called Vanitas, Latin for vanity because it was thought appropriate for the paintings to include some kind of symbol of mortality in each picture, i.e. a skull, or more subtly a flower losing its petals.

The backgrounds are plain or a mixture of embossed wallpapers and ceramics. I have replicated the natural form of wood, brick, water, fabric and stained glass successfully, and am currently working on stone.

The Influences on the Work:

In Britain, the Arts and Crafts Movement flourished towards the end of the 1880s and worked to raise the status of the decorative arts and of the individual craftsman. At its heart lay a concern for the role of the craftsperson; it advocated a revival of traditional handicrafts and a return to a simpler way of life. The Movement evolved and flourished in the city, but the strong pull of the countryside and the simple life that it promised led many to leave the city and establish new ways of living and working. The British Arts and Crafts model of workshop practice and individual creativity has influenced not only my work but also my life, whereby I enjoy a greener, healthier lifestyle which I have created in the comfort of my own working and living urban environment.

The paintings are crafted in the tradition of pargeting or the ancient tradition of relief sculpture, known as bas-relief where the design projects only slightly from the base. The compositions combine many features of the two-dimensional pictorial arts and three-dimensional sculptural arts to represent the relations between the forms in depth and the flat space of the canvas from which they project. The Elgin Marbles are an excellent example although the paint has long since disappeared.

Further traditional influences on my work are Matisse, whose use of colour I love. Others include Picasso, Aubrey Beardsley, Andy Warhol and Georgia O’Keeffe, whose flowers are an inspiration. Modern influences include the magnificent Patrick Caulfield, Rachel Whiteread, the sculptor Almuth Tebbenhoff, Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst and the Chapman brothers.