I generally use acrylics due to their quick drying nature which suits the short timespan of a painting demonstration.

My preferred method of painting is working from dark to light, setting up the mass of the landscape using silhouettes of the divisions in distance, mid-ground and foreground in blocked tonal steps to create recession. I then work over these dried areas with pastel highlights for the distance, increasing the saturation and temperature of colour as I work my way forwards out of the picture. The scale of texture also increases until the foreground becomes full of gesture and contrasts.

I try and show the weather in my paintings to capture the movement of the atmosphere and how that interacts with the landscape.

I love painting the sea. The ever changing play of texture and light is mesmeric. Many of these works are demonstration pieces but include some major studio paintings.

Many of the portraits in this gallery are examples of approximately two hour “demonstration” works as well as studio pieces. For demonstrating purposes, my preferred style is to work with acrylics progressively illuminating flesh tones over a scumbled dark green background.

The life studies in this gallery have mostly been achieved in between teaching my students in class, spending five or ten minutes on my own piece after each round of one to one critique.

This gallery includes works in oil, acrylics and mixed media.

My BA (Hons) is in Fine Art Ceramics. I do not teach this subject but keep it for my own practice specializing in Raku. I love the primeval nature of working with clay and the lustrous nature of glazes as a painting medium.