My art practise is about drawing buildings. I am fascinated by them. My work uncovers a sense of nostalgia, memory, time, history, story telling, inheritance, sense of place, loss and decay.
I ask myself 'Why do we love buildings?' 'What is a home?' 'Why do we identify with lost places?' 'Why are we deeply rooted in home ideas?' 'Why do we love facades?' 'Why do we campaign to save on old building?' 'Why do we love the phrase, Home Sweet Home?' Or love the idea of, There's no place like home?'
Churchill once said; 'We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us'
My drawings are usually made with Sharpie pens and then filled with watercolur washes. They are colourful, often detailed and inaccurate. Sometimes I work from memory, sometimes I draw in a sketchbook and sometimes I work directly onto the paper.
In my work there are no people, as I see the buildings as people.
I travel to seaside places to draw. I draw my home town of St Albans. I draw anywhere that interests me.
For the last few years I have be making sculptures from recycled copper, metals and wood. I love the idea of reusing found materials. In fact many of my resources were left to us by my father in law.
The Shed has been a big theme in my work since lockdown. My studio is a shed. But, I found that most people have a deep psychological attatchment to a shed. The artist Cornellia Parker even blew one up, and then spread out the shards with the contents in a gallery.
Sheds fascinate me as do old buildings and houses. They can be homes too, they store one's life belongings and junk. Sheds become spaces for play and amusement. Sheds are abandoned and left to decay. Sheds are in lonely places, on the edge of the environments and often fall off cliffs.
A Bit More About Myself
I am a mature artist who lives and works in St Albans. My art can be found in many UK and International locations. Since 1997 I have run my art business from my eBay shop, complimenting that with addditional exhibitions, shows and galleries. I have done so much its really difficult to list everything !!
I travel to lots of places in Britain to draw and paint old buildings, piers, lighthouses in fact anything that interests me. My favourite places are Cromer and Sheringham in North Norfolk.
I often take myself off to art courses at Newlyn School of Art, Cornwall which are fabulous and I highly recommend them.
Qualifications Bit
Professional Landscape Course at Newlyn School of Art, Cornwall. November 2025 to September 2026
Studio Practise Course at Newlyn School of Art, Cornwall 2022 to 2023
Oaklands College. Ceramics 2023 to 2024
Open College of the Arts BA. Drawing and Printmaking 2018 to 2019
Oaklnds College Printmaking 2019
Newlyn School of Art. Week Long Landscape Course June 2019
University of Hertfordshire. Printmaking 2012 to 2015
Oaklands College. Access to Art and Design Diploma 2000 to 2001
City and Guilds Life Drawing Qualification 2000
University of Hertfordshire. Art Therapy Foundation Course 1999
City and Guilds Black and White Photography 1998 to 1999
Oaklands College. Clay Heads Ceramic Course 1998
Oaklands College. Chinese Brush Painting 1991
Exhibitions
Royal West of England Art Academy, Bristol 170 Annual Exhibition 2023 to 2024
The Mall Galleries. The Society for British Artists Annual Exhibition 2024
Tremenheere Gallery, Cornwall. 2023
Art of Norwich between 2016 to 2019
Herts Visual Arts Open Studios from 1998 to 2023
St Albans Art Society Summer Exhibtions 2019 to 2025
Letchworth Open 2024 to 2025
Cromer Open, Norfolk 2024 to 2025
St Albans Museum and Gallery 2018 and 2025
Mandells Gallery, Norwich 2025
Artist Residency
Brisons Veor, Cape Cornwall July 2023
Collaboration
With artist Rosie Jarvis. 'Where the river rises' A zig zag sketchbook were are posting to each other and documenting our responses to rivers in our home towns.
Other
I have an active You Tube Channel. A shop on eBay and have been documented many art publications
For many years I ran local community art classes at Sandringham School, St Albans.
