I am a mixed media artist born and raised in a small fishing village in the north of Scotland. I began as a professional photographer and ranged over other design roles in the real world and on the internet. Now my time is filled with rough paper collages and expressive mark-making. These pictures open up naive explorations of unlikely compositions and fleeting reactions, worked out with instinct and emotional thrusts. My technique juggles unforeseen juxtapositions with broken fragments, the whole coming together to achieve a precarious but satisfying complexity. The question of balance is always present. The torn and faded materials reflect the passage of time alongside a view of an imperfect humanity.
My influences may not be apparent… I keep coming back to Cézanne and Matisse.
All these works are made to archival standards on sealed wood. The paper is coated on both sides with Golden soft gel medium to preserve the colours and protected with UV varnish.
I've been experimenting with gold acrylic paint. I've found that paints give an altogether more fluid feel compared to the flakiness of gold leaf.
It's surprising how the particular shade of gold has an instant visceral effect – ranging from authentic and ancient to over-the-counter cheap. I know what I prefer!
Here I'm painting on a map.
It's looking good!
I have a photography section, which isn't looking so good :( Mainly because I'm not using my camera much at the moment so the section has turned into 'Something I Have To Do'… but I'll get it done just so I can feel less guilty.
I'm busy testing and re-testing a website to showcase my work – here's a teaser:
