About Me

I am a watercolour artist and illustrator based in Chesterfield on the edge of the Peak District in Derbyshire. I have been painting watercolour landscapes and seascapes for over ten years and have exhibited in several local galleries over the years in Scotland. I have only recently decided to take the plunge and go full-time. My paintings are usually produced from imagination and reflect the mood and atmosphere of the places I have had the privilege to live in and visit. Born in 1974 and raised in the Scottish Borders then later moving to the English Lake District and most recently Chesterfield, inspiration has never been hard to find. For this I am eternally grateful. This background also meant that landscape was an obvious choice and the subject I feel constantly inspired by. A day out walking the peaks in the Lakes or the North of Scotland taking note of the changing light and the way it plays on the landscape showing you new things with every passing cloud provides more inspiration for an artist than a month spent looking at photographs. However I do not underestimate the value of photography to capture these fleeting nuances of nature as I personally prefer the comfort of a studio setting to paint with all my materials to hand. Although my work includes a fairly high degree of detail I feel that it is more important to convey an atmosphere in a painting through careful use of texture and colour inviting the viewer to fill in some of the blanks themselves. Thus my style incorporates the use of several techniques to create the effects you will see in my work such as wax resist, masking, spatter, paint pouring etc.