I paint my abstract seascapes from memory rather than life and I want to evoke a sense of place, however abstract the work becomes. My paintings are influenced by the British Coastline, particularly Sussex and Cornwall. Lately, I have been mesmerised by light on the horizon and have painted a series of seascapes depicting this. Some of which have turned out quite simple and abstract, sometimes my paintings turn out to be more figurative. I often paint with my hands and with sponges rather than brushes. I paint with oil on canvas and usually use the paint straight from the tube and mix it on the canvas with my fingers. I love working with pure colour and I am fascinated with light on water at certain times of day. Together with horizons, my work has a recurring theme of time and an exploration of changing light, particularly at sunset. My studio in Hastings has a view of the sea so I can work straight onto the canvas which I feel gives the painting a freshness. I am often instantly inspired by the colours of the sky and the sea from my window so I like to immediately start painting and see where it takes me. I love painting the light on the horizon. Music is integral to my work and I always listen to songs to get me in the zone when painting and feel this has a strong influence on how the painting turns out. For me music triggers memories and feelings and each painting is an emotional response to a sensory experience and an attempt to recapture how it felt to be in a particular place at a certain time. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of dreamy folk music like Johnny Flynn, Martha Tilston, John Martyn and Sandy Denny. I think this adds an ethereal quality to the paintings and I often get lost in the music and don’t realise where the time goes. I always title my paintings from songs, with lyrics often jumping out at me while I'm painting that seem to fit the artwork perfectly. I feel that a snippet of a song lyric as a title gives the painting extra depth. I have always felt driven to paint and can't imagine doing anything else.
