Artist's Statement

I grew up in rural southern England. My youth was spent exploring and observing nature and the changing scenery, seasons and weather patterns of my home county of Wiltshire. The landscapes and towns of the county are rich in history and have fed the artistic hearts and minds of artists such as Sir John Constable and J. M. W. Turner and writers such as Thomas Hardy and George Herbert.

Since moving to California in 2001, I predominantly paint plein air, directly on location, working in oils. I work using a combination of palette knives and brushes. 

The paint is applied with a combination of thin passages of color and thick impasto.  Often this is further worked into with a sgraffito technique—scratching back the paint to reveal the tinted ground of the canvas beneath. This may then have further paint applied to create a multi-layered relief to the painting. The application of the paint in this way enables me to create a sense of depth and movement within the painting and so capture what is to me the essence of a particular landscape and my emotional response to it.

The work of Canadian artist, Tom Thomson, the American Western landscape painters such as William Wendt and Edgar Payne, and that of Post-Impressionist, Vincent Van Gogh are strong influences for me.

One Man Shows

2015 The Cole Art Center, Stephen F. Austin University, Nacogdoches, Texas
2010 - 2015 San Francisco Open Studios
1992 The Redgrave Theatre, Farnham, Surrey, UK
1991, 1992 Alba Fine Art, Kew Gardens, Surrey, UK
1991 Century Galleries, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, UK
1990 The Manning Gallery, Godalming, Surrey, UK
1988 - 1989 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
1988 Wolfson College, University of Oxford, UK

Group Shows

2013 Texas National
1991 Spring arts festival, Oberursel, Germany
1989 Four Artists, West End Arts Center, Aldershot, Hampshire, UK

Awards and Sponsorships

2013 America's Cup, Art in the Park—Juror's choice award
2011 Paint Allied Arts—Peoples choice award
1991 Sponsored by Rushmoor Borough Council, UK, to exhibit at a spring arts festival in Oberursel, Germany

Purchases and Commissions

Maubach Wiedenhofer Gmbh, Baden Wurttemburg, Germany
Dr H. J. Sonnenfroh, Baden Wurttemburg, Germany
Mulberry Silks, Farnham, Surrey, UK
Judges Postcards, UK
Bishopsgate Press, UK
NTL, UK
Paintings purchased for private collections in the UK, Germany and USA