Behind the Art

A painter who enjoys working with textiles, I studied art at Newcastle upon Tyne University and learnt to paint in The Hague. I specialise in soft-sculpted wall hangings, paintings and kimono in silk and calico. I regard my work as 'paintings on a moving canvas.'

Silk as a ground upon which to paint is a varied and wonderful medium offering a variety of textures and challenging problems. I exploit its textural and soft sculpting potential in my pieced-silk portraits, kimono and wall hangings.

Major influences upon me have been the artists Botticelli, Caravaggio, Gillray, Scarfe and the Japanese woodblock print maker, Utamaro. I am fascinated by Japanese culture, in particular the art of the kimono and by its portrayal in both prints and paintings. For me the kimono combines the sensual pleasures of beautiful textiles with great artistry in terms of colour, texture, line and design. I have chosen to make the kimono my 'canvas' upon which I express my figurative painting and my personal interpretation of politics and society.

My kimono are conventional only in shape. They are three-dimensional narrative paintings. Issues covered are suggested by their titles e.g. 'Punching Judy', 'A Social History of Tea', 'Under the Veil' and 'Sympathy for the Devil'. Several of my pieces are painted on different types of layered silks after the fashion of the classical Heian court kimono and reflect a fascination both with the kimono and the human form.

Currently my interest is with portraiture in textiles. I either create portraits from stiched, pieced silk that I then paint on or I paint a portrait on stretched canvas that I then slash and weave with various textiles.

Many of these pieces are done to commission and incluse family portraits as well as those of the famous from Mother Theresa to Miles Davis.

I have won awards for my work both in the USA and UK. My work has been exhibited in mainland Europe, USA and UK. I have held solo exhibitions in Brighton, Newmarket, Knebworth and Newcastle upon Tyne and a kimono retrospective in Wimpole Hall Gallery, Cambridgeshire in May/June 2005. I have also designed kimono inspired costumes and video sets for 'The Wish Fish' ballet and book illustrations for 'Arthur King of the Britons' By Daniel Mersey.