Portfolio

Selected paintings

My creative practice

How I work

I enjoy working with found materials - metal, slate or often painting on wood where I follow the grain pattern to evoke its 'memory' and find a new world to inhabit visually. I like to repurpose and 'give new life' to junk such as metal sidings from scrapped appliances or old tiles of roofing slate. I do paint on canvas occasionally, but a blank white canvas can be a little daunting at times. The texture of an alternative surface will give hints of the forms I go on to create.

I draw on the myriad patterns found within nature, frequently using these as abstract shapes for decorative effect and experimental mark making. I create fantasy scenes with the themes of the life cycle and the links between all living things from microscopic creatures to mountains or jungles.

I often start off with a rough idea of what I will come out with and the artwork reveals itself to me as I continue. I find this a more intuitive way to work rather than setting out a plan beforehand. Even with plans, the artwork invariably takes on its own direction as I’m working so I may as well let go and let the process take me along with it.

Experience

  1. - 29 Sept - 13 Oct, 'Beyond the surface' - Elms Window Gallery, paintings on metal together with works by Nicolas Cross,
    - June, Walthamstow Art Trail, 'Painted and Threaded' - paintings alongside textile sculptor @Harriottknuckles,
    - April - Jun, 'Muses and musings' - figure drawings and paintings at Wynwood Art District, Walthamstow;
  2. - August, Three Rooms Gallery, Walthamstow - 'Colouring In' - a group show of paintings, prints and textiles
    - 5 Mar - 3 April, 'Surroundings', Genesis Cinema Gallery, Whitechapel, group show of paintings curated by Dark Yellow Dot, Genesis Cinema Gallery, East London
    - 12 - 29 March, 'Drawing Humans', XYZ Gallery, Chancery Lane - four works shown in Group exhibition of Life Drawing curated by Draw Living Art
  3. - Elms Window Gallery, Leyton - solo show of selected paintings, 20 Aug - 9 Sept, Elms Window Gallery
    - June, E17 Art Trail, Walthamstow, Group exhibition showing new paintings; and
    - Walthamstow Life Drawing group exhibition at Orford House, Walthamstow, London
  4. A long hiatus from painting as a single parent
  5. Pastures Youth Centre, Leyton - Ten day workshop with young people painting a mural for the centre
  6. Changing Room Gallery (now Winns Gallery), Lloyd Park, Walthamstow, London, ‘Any Colour as Long as it’s Green’, Friends of the Earth exhibition, painting shown
  7. - Stoke Newington Festival, June, with The Others venue, sculpture and paintings shown
    - 'Climate of Change', Union street, SE1 curated by londonart.co.uk, sponsored by ASC Studios, mixed media photography and light installations of mine shown
  8. - ‘Uplift and Inspire, An Adbusters Intervention’, an independent exhibition event by artists on the District and Circle Lines. ‘Metabolic’, a collaboration between myself (photograph) and Paul Ibram (poem) was included in the show. Watch a short film about it. The video quality is not great but it shows the event.
    - Stoke Newington Festival with The Others venue, paintings shown
  9. - Islington Contemporary Art and Design Fair, Candid Arts Trust, March - painting, photography and mixed media photography
    - Group exhibition - The Others, Stoke Newington, October
  10. Ickenox Group exhibition, Dray Walk Gallery, Brick Lane, London
  11. Independent Group Exhibition, Marble Arch, London
  12. The Drome Music Venue Southwark, London - paintings shown
  13. - Hoxton Arts Festival Group Exhibition of Painting, Photography, Prints, Sculpture, Poetry, Performance, Hoxton St, London - paintings shown; private sales of artwork
    - Public Mural painting, Metropolis Leisure Centre, Hertfordshire
  14. Solo exhibition of paintings – Blue Room Café, Soho, London W1
  15. Freelance artist, mural painter, picture framer, interior design collaborations, private commissions, set painting for theatre and commercials - Johannesburg, Cape Town, London
  16. - 'Revue Noire – South Africa, Art and Literature', Dec 1993 – Feb 1994 No.11. Two photos in this edition - pg 7 (p5 of the publication)
    - ICA Gallery, Newtown, Johannesburg - 'Drawing with Light – Photography Pushes the Limit'
    - Group Exhibition – V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
    - Freelance Photographer and Photographic Assistant
  17. - Photographs in “Outrage” Group Exhibition - painting, photography, performance, Johannesburg
    - Namibia Arts Association - Artists of Southern Africa - photographs shown
  18. International Invitational Photography Exhibition, Benham Studio Gallery, Seattle, USA - two photographs selected for exhibition
  19. Thusong Community & Youth Centre, Alexandra, Johannesburg - Photography teacher
  20. BA Fine Art (Hons) University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Major in Photography & Printmaking
  21. Assistant to photographers, Shaw Studios, Brixton, Johannesburg;
    - Private mural painting commissions
  22. Paintings, drawings and photographs are held in private collections in
    UK, Canada, South Africa, USA, France and Germany.

Contact

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