My Artwork is informed by daily life, dreams, meditations and nature.
Most of my recent work is digitally drawn and then printed on Fine Art paper. More recently I am working on multi-media works.
Colour, Material, Spirit and Place
I have long loved the colour of acrylic paint, but working with acrylics also means tolerating yet more plastic in the environment. For some years, digital art offered a way to work with colour while reducing toxicity, especially when printing through a zero emissions company.
This almost satisfied my need to be free from toxicity, and it also gave me freedom to travel away from my studio with very little kit and capture the areas I landed in, with a refreshing instancy.
The Need to Work Directly with Materials
Back in my studio, I find that I rarely go towards digital work . I feel as if digital art had its place and I now need to work directly with materials again.
I like oil pastels because they provide strong colour, although they often contain toxic ingredients. I am now trying R&F pigment sticks from Jackson’s Art Supplies, which are about as pure as you can get. I am also using collage, which feels close to upcycling.
Spirit and Spontaneity
While in London (1984 to 2018), and online, I have participated in Suzette Clough’s Visual Medicine sessions. I was drawn to Suzette because her method seems as free from ego as an artist can be, allowing water and pigment to land spontaneously. It feels like a pure connection with Spirit. This feels increasingly important as I walk my artistic path: I am less and less inclined to try to please others, and more inclined to express my love of life, spirit and nature.
Mindful Drawing as a Bridge
For some years, mindful drawing satisfied my need to connect with an item, person, dream or place as if it had not yet been named, so that the object was not imprisoned in a label. Digital drawings of this sort had, and still have, their place in my creative practice.
The artwork I have produced since 2024, when I moved back to Scotland after four years travelling and then living in the Cotswolds, is largely inspired by the sea and forests of this area. It involves scrunching paper, cutting out, pencil, collage and oil pastel.
Minimalism and Recyclability
In life and art, I am a minimalist. I do not like collecting possessions that someone else will have to deal with when I die, so I want my body of art to be as recyclable as possible. The digital art can go in the paper bin; the frames can go to second-hand shops, where I try to buy them; and the oil pastel work is biodegradable.
Together, these choices bring colour, touch, spirit, place and ecological care into one practice.
I do have formal training, for which I am grateful, however my work is currently about unlearning, collaborating with the spirit of things and honouring the artist in everyone.
I live and work in the Findhorn area of North East Scotland.
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