Portrait - 19-6-21 Painting

Thank you for visiting my page. Any questions please ask. I have been very creative since childhood and although I spent several years studying Fine Art, I feel am mainly self-taught. Painting now for nearly 30 years. The portraits are drawn from imagination mainly, in various mediums and surfaces, I like to experiment and try lots of different ideas and explore where it can go. I like to create a beauty, some mystery or surrealism, feeling of a story or narrative. I work stream-of-consciousness from imagination, or sometimes use reference images for inspiration or extra details. The landscapes are mainly inspired by my own photos taken on the Isle of Wight or the New Forest. I love striking light and dark, bold compositions and a feeling of mystery or story. Woodlands, beach trees and country roads are recurring themes, the focus being on the trees. Like an almost human element, a character or idea in the landscape. I work in any medium from drawings to paintings, in watercolour, ink, oil or acrylic, in an illustrative style to an expressive gestural painterly style. I have many of the usual influences, Basquiat, Picasso, Van Gogh, Egon Schiele, Daniel Clowes, comic books and graphic novels. Bio: I currently live on the Isle of Wight, with my husband and two young children. I studied Fine Art at Portsmouth University, then Plymouth College of Art and Design, though as I was only there a year I feel for the most part I am self-taught, with many influencers and teachers along the way. I’ve been painting now nearly 30 years. I have exhibited regularly on the Isle of Wight since 2001, at various galleries and events. I was successfully chosen to exhibit in London with Etsy UK as part of their ‘OPEN’ Exhibition in 2012. My landscape painting was used in Berghaus’ advertising campaign ‘Time To Get Out’ in 2018, and commissioned for them by VCCP. This was used across all media platforms and launched at the London Design Biennial at Somerset House, London. My work is in many private collections worldwide as I have been selling my work online since 2012. I have also been featured in magazines and publications, such as Spirituality & Health Magazine, The Caterpillar and Eyeflash Poetry, cover art.