I’ve always loved painting and drawing and as a teenager I was never bored as I would sketch and paint anything from David Bowie album covers to everyday objects around me although my best work has always come from my imagination. I think my parents must have been very understanding about my need to express myself artistically as once I painted my whole bedroom in multi-coloured clouds floor to ceiling with birds flying over and they thought it was great!
At school I lived for my art lessons and I am still grateful to this day to my teachers for their constant encouragement. By the time I left school I knew there would be nothing else I would want to do as a career although it took me a long time from that point to realise my potential as a professional fine artist. I studied Design and Illustration at Barking College in East London and was very fortunate to have two Royal College of Art trained tutors. My course was aimed more at graphic design and illustration than fine art but gave me a good grounding in composition and colour theory which in recent years has helped me enormously with my work. For me an exciting painting is one where there is emphasis on tonal contrasts, light and dark; these are the paintings I am drawn to. The Pre- Raphaelites were very good at creating accurate and life like images whilst injecting incredible drama into their work with just the use of strong contrasts of light and dark. I also admire the work of Johannes Vermeer, John Singer Sargent, and Joaquin Sorolla for the same reason, simple subjects given breath-taking beauty with the attention on how the light falls on the subject. I try to use this technique in my own work, it’s all about what happens where there is light and where there is shade. Water and fish are perfect subjects to paint for me because of the reflections, bubbles, ripples, movement and contrast.
Ancient Japanese legend tells of the Koi fish swimming relentlessly upstream against the waters flow which represents strength in a time of adversity. The Koi then leap up a waterfall and on reaching the top are then transformed into a dragon which in itself represents strength and good fortune. I love the symbolism of the Koi and I think we can all recognise times in our lives when things have been difficult and we have used all our strength to overcome these challenges. Aside from the representation of what the Koi stand for their beautiful colours and patterns make them a wonderful subject for me and represent new horizons and hope for the future.