Painting has been a passion for me for as long as I can remember. I was always a very creative child, drawing, colouring, making models out of muddy looking plasticine, it was something that was always encouraged and kept me quiet for hours at a time. My earliest 'arty' memory is of my first day at school, I made a fish mobile thing, a shape cut out of pastel green card with bits of fabric and shiny paper stuck on... I have a feeling my mum still has it somewhere!
I have continued painting and drawing all my life in one medium or another, from little doodles with a Biro, to huge acrylic canvases, I simply have to create.
I live with my family in a remote cottage in Mid Northumberland, real peace and quiet, huge wide open spaces, big sky, the only sounds are the cattle, sheep and the occasional Buzzard. Its a far cry from the fun busy world that I paint. My ladies, as I call them seem to be on an endless mission to amuse and create mischief, always up for a challenge and a bit of a lark. Although the paintings are loosely based on my family connections with Tyneside, I am also quite heavily influenced by the late great Beryl Cook (always one for the humour) and strangely the American pin up artists of the 1950s, in particular Gil Elvgren. I'm not even going to try to explain how that particular marriage of influences came together as I have absolutely no idea myself, sometimes it's just better not not delve too deeply into the recesses of my mind!
I come across inspiration for these paintings in the most bizarre places, everyday life throws some strange stuff at you if you take the time to step back a little and watch, a little twist in those dark recesses I have just been talking about avoiding, and BINGO, new material!! Anything is fair game mind, so watch out! I have sketch books and notepads stuffed full of bits and pieces of reference, sometimes I'll spot something on the TV, someone will make a remark or tell me a little story I might find a postcard or a photograph tucked away somewhere and a new journey begins.