When I joined the weekly group of painters at Rhosygilwen I was tentative. Like most beginners I started with watercolours on a small scale, believing that to be easier than other forms. How wrong I was! Painting in watercolour requires care and planning; mistakes are not so smoothly painted over and one needs a subtle, deft approach. Roger Young, trained at the Royal Academy, was my first teacher. He believed in a ‘drip feed’ style of teaching, so that each week I came away with some nugget of advice or practical tip. I have also learned much from my fellow artists and from Carol and Mike Francis. An intensive with David Tress was my next foray. It was an initiation into working on a large scale in acrylic, combining a respect for classic elements such as composition, light and perspective with an eruption of spontaneity and intuition. It was great to see David at work. It encouraged me to trust my instinct and give free rein to my love of colour and vibrancy. The last influences have been the Norfolk School of Painting and Martin Kinnear. Through them I’ve been introduced to painting in oils. And what an experience that has been! Through weekly online studio talks we are encouraged to tackle a variety of styles, not slavishly aping the masters of previous eras, but observing and incorporating some of their techniques. I have included samples of different subjects and media here

Paintings that appeal to me often straddle the border between representational and abstract. This is why I appreciate David Tress’s paintings. Details of the landscape: the colours, contours and shapes, that are familiar, are reworked in the alchemy of the artist’s unique perception and vision. An attempt to represent only what the eye sees seems futile to me: a camera can do a better job. I want to get a sense of what is happening between the external world and the subjective. What is out there and what is going on within the artist. What excites me in my own work is this sense of discovery when I attempt to put my own experience across. It is the grappling with the medium, which always remains a challenge, and the impressions and sensations within me. I like that painting is sometimes about cheating and taking liberties, about fooling the eye and making the brain of the beholder do plenty of unconscious but necessary work. I like that paintings can evoke moods, that they can create worlds within worlds, vistas beyond the imagination.

Ship in distress Oil NFS
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Snowscape Oil on canvas. £230
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Trees in blossom oil £230

Walden stone. Acrylic £450

Autumn Leaves £150

Staycation £250

Blood Island £250

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The gate Oil on canvas Framed £200
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Hayk £200

A child’s Cardigan oil on canvas
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Blue lady in a hat oil on canvas NFS Sold

Self portrait oil on canvas NFS

Autumn Flowers £200