l live just into the Suffolk side of the beautiful and Serene Waveney Valley with my husband and two Border Collie dogs; we also have a flock of rare breed sheep that graze our meadows.
I have made art all my life but only started art school as a mature student when my youngest child started school. After a move in 1998, from Ipswich to Norfolk, l became absolutely intrigued by the landscape around me; it seemed as though its history oozed through the soles of my feet as l walked the lanes, particularly in winter.
From that time, l began painting the landscape around me drawing upon folklore, mythology and ancient history in order to suggest something other than the purely physical but the basis of this work was always environment concerns.
I moved back to Suffolk in 2009 and continued painting and making charcoal drawings of the landscape around me. However, when news of the climate crisis hit in 2018, l found l was longe4 able to do this. I put down all my brushes, paints and charcoal down and simply walked away.
A fallow period of 3 to 4 years following, during which time, l started making sterling silver and semi precious stone jewellery and taught myself silversmithing. It was a healing period as l didn't have to think beyond the physical act of creating.
In 2024, l started painting again but in a completely different direction, and taught myself how to use an airbrush. I combine images of Nebula as photographed by the Hubble and James Webb telescopes, using acrylic inks through an airbrush and combine this with vignettes of global issues that l feel passionately about, rendered using miniature and micro brushes with the inks. Each Nebula is carefully selected in order to complement the subject of each piece. I feel that the fine mist of ink through the airbrush is perfectly reflects these cosmic, gaseous formations, while the brushwork suggests the physical of the world around us. The resulting images are both beautiful but uncomfortable at the same time; they are, perhaps, not easy to look at, but l feel that l need to have a voice, and in so doing, find that l am better able to tolerate the current climate that we find ourselves living in.
Recently, l have also returned to making charcoal drawings of our beautiful Suffolk landscape.
