In the late 1950s I was fortunate to receive a thorough grounding in figurative painting and drawing at Guildford School of Art; since then I’ve continued to explore a wide range of materials and styles, working nowadays mainly in abstraction.
Feeling great concern about the environmental impact of waste and our indiscriminate use of plastics and oil, I make mosaics, sculpture and graphic work by combining discarded toys and mass-produced ornaments with found objects …..a squashed can in the road, plastics in the tideline… abandoned, unvalued, changed by time… palimpsests. The work is a way of thinking about survival and re-creation, how to flourish in this time, noticing how the ancient archetypes of gods, devils, angels have been passed down to us almost invisibly through popular culture.
An old tractor shed with good light, in the country near Totnes is my studio… BIG, with a tough concrete floor, up-and-over access for large objects, a robin, wren and spiders to share it with, plus no wifi distraction, I can make a mess, accumulate manifold strange objects and let the imagination roam around the Ocean of Possibilities. Draughty, cold in winter, hot in summer - but perfect.
Exhibiting locally and nationally, I also work to commission, sometimes teach mosaics, ceramics and community projects and am a member of SWMA, the South West Sculptors Association and the Contemporary Glass Society.