1. When you were young, what job did you picture yourself having as an adult?
I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was a child and worked on archaeological digs in my summer holidays from age 11 to 15.
2. When did you first realise you wanted to be an artist?
Having my work shown in a national exhibition of children’s art and studying art history at A Level made me realise I wanted to be an artist rather than an archaeologist.
3. Were you good at art at school?
I must have been good at art at school because I did well in O and A Levels, but I didn’t think I was at the time.
4. Do you remember the first exhibition you went to?
My dad took me to see a Turner exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle when I was very young. I remember thinking how clever he was to be able to draw boats so well!
5. Which artist do you most admire?
Edvard Munch.
6. Which talent of his do you covet?
Munch’s entire practice is a fearless excavation of psychological states: anxiety, grief, desire, longing. What I find most covetable in his work is his ability to use landscape not as a backdrop but as an emotional mirror – skies, water and shoreline have an inner life. That fusion of external world and psychological experience rendered in bold colour and urgent line has an energy that transcends its time.
7. If you could own any one painting in history, which would it be?
Edvard Munch’s 1922-24 version of Starry Night from the Munch Museum in Oslo.
8. What’s the best exhibition you’ve seen recently and why?
I’ve seen a lot of exhibitions in the past year but the Noah Davis exhibition at the Barbican in May 2025 was the most compelling. His figurative paintings occupy a space between the realistic and the dreamlike. There is a tenderness and quiet intensity to his work – a moody, layered palette that draws you in. What strikes me most is how he balanced formal painterly intelligence with genuine human feeling. I keep returning to his work for inspiration.
9. Is there one place that’s had a decisive influence on your work and if so in what way?
Growing up in the North East of England still has a big influence on my visual language today. The quality of light over the North Sea, the drama of the north-east coastline and vast skies over moorland and forests in Northumberland inspire my sense of space and atmosphere. A sudden snowfalls, a shift in light and a sea fret rolling in can transform those landscapes in an almost magical way. I find myself returning to that rawness and wonder again and again in my work.
10. Where in the world would you like to spend six months making your art?
I would very happily spend six months making work in Norway, Canada, Iceland or Japan.
11. What subjects are you always drawn to in your work?
Landscapes and often the fleeting weather conditions that can transform them are my main subjects, but the works are always about an emotional response to the landscape rather than a representation of what the landscape looks like.
12. Which colour do you find yourself using in your work more frequently than others?
Viridian Green and Alizarin Crimson are the colours I use more frequently than any others. I find them to be very versatile and a mixture of the two makes lovely greys and the Alizarin makes great pinks. As complimentary colours, red and green used together have more visual contrast and intensity. I find working with a limited palette gives the work a more coherent, unified feel.
13. How often do you create a new picture, on average?
To allow for drying time in the oil paint I will work on a few paintings at a time and finish one every two to four weeks.
14. What’s your studio like?
Unlike many artists I don’t work well in chaos! I have a lovely light and organised studio at Wimbledon Art Studios.
15. How do you relax?
I meditate or go running.
16. What’s your most treasured possession?
My car.
17. What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
A McDonalds after a late night at the studio.
18. If you could go back in time, when and where would you go?
New York in the 1960s.
19. What plans do you have to develop your art?
I am applying to do an MFA.
20. How would you like to be remembered?
Laughing.
