Inspiration to paint comes from many sources.
I am a self taught artist and began my self imposed apprenticeship by copying everything in sight, the main focus was to reproduce miniatures and portraits. I was unable to produce original work nor did I even know how to begin.
Early one morning I walked along the shoreline of Prinsted in Chichester Harbour.
In the distance I could see a dingy in full sail, skimming over the waves, with the sailor leaning over the side of the boat. He must have felt total freedom.
I suddenly realised how blind I had been, I too was free, I had just not recognised it. I was free to enjoy my life, free to do anything I wanted to do, free to walk any road I wanted. How strange that until that moment I had not felt it.
I hurried home to my studio and picked up brushes, paints and a large piece of board and produced my first contemporary painting. For the first time I painted with emotion and it was liberating.
My painting ‘Freedom was born.’
An invisible key had unlocked a deeply hidden mechanism that allowed me to paint what I feel. To this day I am not sure quite what happened.
I began my journey and walked a different road, this time as a Storyteller artist.
I paint stories and create paintings people can look at, then tell me what they can see and feel. The stories they have told over the years have fed my imagination and inspired me to create new paintings.