It has been a wonderful year in many ways. When I was studying on my degree course I didn't imagine I would be in this position a year after graduating. Participating in many activities has enabled me to make new artist friends and other contacts. I have become part of exhibiting groups of artists and shown my work all over the UK. This month, December, a framed print of my painting Chance and Choices will be displayed in Miami Art Week in the USA! It will feature in an exquisite corpse with 59 other artists creating work speaking of social justice. Next year my calendar is already filling...

I was invited to go to Lisbon at the end of February for an art-filled week with academics Diana Ali and Dr. Michele Whiting and several other artists. There were days sketching around Lisbon and Cascais. Visits to public museums and private galleries. Two days were spent in the Artepod studios. There was also lots of train rides, walking, eating, drinking, laughing and of course arty chat! It was a very enjoyable week with many stimulating ideas. We held a little exhibition of our work in the infinity studio. When I returned to my studio at Dean Clough I started to try and replicate and...

I am working on two series simultaneously at present so all my studio surfaces are covered at the moment. As I work with very fluid paint I need to work flat for much of the time, sometimes tipping the canvas or panel to allow the paint to flow in a particular direction. Landlines arose because I looked back at my paintings and picked something I liked about certain ones, this new series Rhythm came about when I received some new pre-prepared panels from Jackson's. The cradled wood panels are very smooth and when I apply very dilute paint they repel the paint in indiscriminate areas which...

I have come to the end of a series of exhibitions I have been involved in. Participants of the Turps Correspondence Course 24/25 organised three exhibitions where the work was transported between venues in Wrexham, Standish in Wigan and finally Candid Arts Trust in London. Split, Split 2 and 3. I managed to attend the two northern shows and now have new art buddies which have come together as a collective to go forwards exhibiting together. I have found the course useful and enrolled again for next year starting in September. Having two monthly deadlines when I write a letter to my mentor...

One of my ambitions is to be invited to be part of group exhibitions with noted artists and this year I will be showing work with some such artists following on from Higher Bandwidth last year, details are on the website exhibitions page. Because of limitations on the size of work I can submit for these, I have had to focus on making smaller paintings. After looking at what I have already created I decided to pick up on two themes. This felt new to me as I tend to start each painting afresh, although threads inevitably arise. A small painting that arose from the way diluted paint behaved...

I am having a bit of a lull in painting at the moment. I have been framing small work ready for the four exhibitions where I have them on display around the Christmas period. Rearranging paintings in the hallway and studio was done with the help of my studio neighbour photographer Peter Defty, which I am very grateful for, I couldn't do it without him. We have had a meeting of artists in residence in Mill House with a view to holding open studio events which I hope will happen in the spring of 2025. The photos are of the Tiny Gallery where Dean Clough artists have work for sale from now...

As a participant in the Turps Correspondence Course I have joined up with a group planning exhibitions in different parts of the UK. The first show will be held in collaboration with Hypha Studios and The Dispensary Gallery in a large empty retail unit in Wrexham, North Wales. I was able to contribute to the organisation by designing a submission form, the first google form I've ever created, which shows how easy it is! My painting Open to Possibilities was selected by the curators. When I applied for the Turps CC I didn't expect opportunities like this to come along so I am very grateful...

Hanging paintings on the wall in the studio makes the room look more cheerful and gets them off the floor. When they are up there, you start to make links and relationships between them that you hadn't noticed before. Looking back at my work and reflecting on it helps me going forwards to create more work. Although my process is using what I have learnt so far and improvising with my materials, so each painting is always different, there are always things that connect them with me. In future I hope that critics will be able to recognise my work as distinctly mine and that my 'voice' shows...

I will be giving an artist talk on Monday 13th May 2024 at 7pm.

We will meet in the Mosaic gallery on the first floor of D Mill at Dean Clough, Halifax.

I will tell you about how I became an artist, how I create my paintings and describe the research and ideas behind the work in my exhibition Delving Deeply. There will be an opportunity to ask questions. Everyone is welcome to come along.

The photograph is of myself and Diana Ali. Diana is an artist, curator, lecturer and TV presenter. She interviewed me at an Open College of the Arts event at my exhibition on 9 April 2024. Students came from...

We had a wonderful opening event on Saturday 23rd March. Lots of people came and I sold seven paintings which was a bonus. See the link to a short video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy9s92tI55s

The exhibition is open for two months until 27 May so plenty of time to go and see it. Here are just a couple of reviews-

"What a progression in art! Quarrying front and centre. Dreamlike qualities of the Untitled and Promises- excellent. We love the quarry tiles- How expressive- reflective of Northern England- those are particularly moving. The juxtaposition of Industry and Nature- what a...

My first solo exhibition, Delving Deeply: An exploration into what lies beneath through the medium of paint, Open 10-4 daily.

The opening event is from 12noon to 2pm on Saturday the 23rd of March, all are welcome to come along.

The exhibition is getting close now, it opens four weeks tomorrow.

I have finished all my paintings and been arranging small photos of them on a scaled model of the gallery. I expect they will be shuffled around when it comes to actually hanging them but it feels good to have a plan and know there is enough work to go in the space. Invitations to send in the post are ordered and I am drafting a catalogue with the help of the gallery exhibitions officer/curator, Cath Graham. The catalogue will be on sale in the gallery during the exhibition.

I have also been framing some small mono prints...

January 2024-The studio keeps changing round as I am working on the last three paintings for my solo show, Delving Deeply. When waiting for paint to dry, the finishing jobs are also ongoing, such as signing, varnishing and putting mirror plates on ready for hanging.  I am planning to have a catalogue to accompany the show which will have photographs of my paintings and some information about the research that inspired them. The time is flying but I am trying not to feel the pressure as it makes painting even harder. The exhibition will take place in the Mosaic and Upstairs galleries at...

October 2023

There have been exciting new developments.  I have taken on the tenancy of a large studio in Dean Clough Mills, Halifax. We had to work hard renovating the room but it was worth it. The extra space will make it easier to work on large canvases and store finished paintings. As you can see in the photograph I have tables, to work flat on several paintings at once, and a chill out area at one end.  There is a supportive community of artists in this building and others on site too which is a bonus.