Member since Wednesday 5th Nov, 2025
I have been painting for ten years and although I attend a local art class I haven’t had any formal art training.
My background is working in primary schools as both a teacher and a teaching assistant. I saw the benefits fist hand of using the creative arts to engage children and develop their ability to communicate ideas, opinions and feelings using mediums other than the written word. It wasn’t, however, until my career ended prematurely that I discovered the power of art to heal and provide me with opportunities to learn and develop new skills.
As a keen observer of people, I have been increasingly drawn to narrative portraiture. I love the struggle involved in trying to represent both a sense of visual likeness and facets of a person’s character, personality, mood and interests. I do like to mix things up a bit though so I also paint animals, sometimes dressed like humans, and inanimate objects such as shoes, socks and food.
For me, the success of a painting is if it has the ability to stimulate discourse and evoke memories or feelings, whether positive or negative, in the viewer.
I work mainly in acrylics but I also use oils, charcoal and pastel pencils on canvas and paper.
