I didn’t study art; instead, with a strong interest in language and culture I gained a first-class degree in Hispanic studies at Queen Mary, University of London in 2004. I spent a year living in Granada, Spain and on returning to London went on to become a journalist, working for publications and organisations such as the British Council, Youthnet, handbag.com, Sky and more. This gave me the opportunity to work with incredible people and travel around the world. I still enjoy writing and continue to do so on a freelance basis.
Painting and drawing was something I did in my spare time. I never considered selling my work until it became noticed by friends, as well as acquaintances of my dad, John, who has been a successful artist for about 40 years. So, in 2009 - mid-recession - I took what must’ve seemed like a rather financially unwise decision to leave full-time employment in order to concentrate on painting. Fortunately it was a worthwhile risk as the hard work paid off and my pictures eventually appeared in galleries and as published prints around the UK.

I had never entered an art competition since I was about 13, but in 2009 I submitted a painting of Jammie Dodger biscuits called ‘Broken Hearted’ to the 51st Essex Open Art event and to my complete disbelief, it won the Best Still Life category and was the featured image on all publicity material. That summer, my biscuits were all over Essex.
Simple, everyday pleasures inspire me. I love animals - particularly their colours, textures and personalities - so I often try to characterise them in my work. Cats are most familiar to me, and I own (or rather I’m owned by) two mogs who stay disconcertingly close to me and my wet paint while I’m working. I also enjoy seeing fun and beauty in banal things - jam, for example, is so rich in colour, varying in transparency and viscosity that it’s quite a sensual experience to attempt recreating its qualities on canvas.

There’s a deadpan sense of humour in pretty much all the subjects of my work. Hence the manic appearance of my chickens or the vacant expression on the explosively furry cats. It’s even hard to take a 2ft square painting of a doughnut seriously. But humour doesn’t mean lacking in substance; I think it’s important for art to invoke emotion. I hope mine invokes joy. At the end of the day, I want people to feel happy when looking at my pictures

 

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