BIOGRAPHY

ARTIST STATEMENT

Working in my first floor studio with a view I make abstract paintings and collages which dance with delicious colour. Dreamy artworks, imbued with a profusion of beautiful shapes and subtle veils of colour, soft and gentle or rich, bold and vibrant, are further enhanced with mark making techniques and texture. Constructed and deconstructed, painted, overlaid and altered many times I continue with this process until all the disparate components share an enriched symbiosis aiming to articulate that elusive personally significant and visually engaging magic.

Painting

Colour and abstraction make my heart sing – I love warm colours especially pinks, hot or delicate. I pour paint, primarily acrylics and household, ink, fabric dyes and a variety of other liquids like tea onto the surface, building layers randomly in both media and meaning, each equally critical for success. Brushing, scraping, staining, drawing, printing and through other processes, sometimes adding textures using crushed Yorkshire stone or coal, or Plaster of Paris, elements are revealed and concealed. By developing and experimenting with a variety of mark making techniques, I alter the image until an intangible excitement is captured within and I work until the image delights. Joyful and spontaneous, my paintings are intimate expressions of how I see and interpret the world around and within me.

Collage

I collect rubbish like a magpie, shiny colourful textural interesting to me rubbish, squirrelled away, gathering dust until I root around to find the perfect piece. From packaging to wrapping paper and cellophane to my old cut up and torn artworks, from fabric to gold leaf and inks to household paint, from teabag dust to string and feathers to bark and so much more I have gathered and stored ‘stuff’ as it may come in useful one day! Screen printing often provides the basic layer upon which to develop my collages, then, plundering the paraphernalia while absorbing the feeling within each artwork I am wholly unaware of all else around me and meaning materialises, often unfolding subconsciously.

CURRICULUM VITAE

BA Fine Art, Reading University
PGCE, Stranmillis College, Belfast
Head of Art, Rockport Preparatory School, Northern Ireland
Art Co-ordinator, Westville House, Ilkley, West Yorkshire

My work is in private and corporate collections in the UK and overseas.

Exhibitions

• Harrison Robinson Estate Agents, Ilkley – My paintings are permanently on display in this beautiful space and are available to view, and buy, any time. The lovely staff are happy to show you my work alongside selling houses! The display is regularly refreshed and rehung when new work is available.
harrisonrobinson.co.uk

2024

• ILKLEY ARTS MEMBERS OPEN STUDIOS – October

• TINKER GALLERY – SMALL WORKS Ilkley 15 August – 5 October
tinkergallery.com

• FIVE OPEN STUDIOS – 12 Hollingwood Rise LS29 9PW – 17 18 19 May

• TINKER GALLERY – THE ILKLEY FOUNTAIN EXHIBITION & AUCTION Ilkley
Bidding Wed – Sat until 20 April
tinkergallery.com

• TINKER GALLERY – RED Ilkley, West Yorkshire 1 February – 1 March

Previous Exhibitions

• ILKLEY TENNIS CLUB – GROUP SHOW Ilkley

• THE ART SHOP – SOLO EXHIBITION Ilkley

• ILKLEY ARTS STUDIO – POP UP Ilkley

• TINKER GALLERY – GROUP SHOW Ilkley

• ILKLEY ARTS STUDIO – ILKLEY ARTS POP UP Ilkley

• TINKER GALLERY – KALEIDOSCOPE Ilkley

• WESTERN GALLERY ILKLEY MANOR HOUSE- DOVETAILING RESPONSES Ilkley, West Yorkshire
dovetailing.co.uk

• SOLAR GALLERY, ILKLEY MANOR HOUSE, Founder member & exhibited regularly, Ilkley, West Yorkshire

• HAMILTON HOUSE – MERCATUS LIBER – FREE MARKET Venice Vending Machine, Bristol
ART-E-MOTION‘s Vending Machine contains miniature artworks, produced by international artists

• MENIER GALLERY – EXHIBIT HERE’S HOPE EXHIBITION Bankside, London exhibithere.com

• ILKLEY ARTS STUDIO – MAKING SPACE Ilkley, West Yorkshire

• LA GALLERIA – SUMMER SHOW Pall Mall, London

• TATE EXCHANGE – PRODUCTION-PROCESS-COLLABORATION How do you value Art? Liverpool
ART-E-MOTION‘s Vending Machine contains miniature artworks produced by international artists and is a travelling participatory performance and installation that invites artists to support each other whilst interacting with the public

• WESTERN GALLERY, ILKLEY MANOR HOUSE – SEVEN ARTISTS ONE PEBBLE SEVEN JOURNEYS Ilkley, West Yorkshire
A collaborative exhibition – one of 7 artists whose inspiration came from musing upon a pebble

• ILKLEY ARTS, 2011 – present, Ilkley

• ART FOR YOUTH, Royal College of Art, London

• ART FOR YOUTH, North, Topcliffe

• THE SOCIETY OF WOMEN ARTISTS, Westminster Gallery, London

• MERCER GALLERY, Harrogate

• KUNTHUIS GALLERY, Crayke

• WEAVERBIRD WORKSHOP, Ilkley, West Yorkshire

• BRADFORD BIG SCREEN, Centenary Square, City Park, Bradford

• ROYAL SOCIETY OF OIL PAINTERS, Mall Galleries, London – shortlisted