Collection Type: COLLAGE & MIXED MEDIA

Mixed Media on Paper – Mounted & Framed 48 x 39cm – Image size 25 x 17.5cm

Flotsam is the floating wreckage of a ship, or its cargo or floating debris washed up by the tide. Jetsam and lagan were items thrown overboard to lighten a ship. Lagan was distinguished from jetsam by having a buoy attached so the goods could be found if they sank. Getting rid of flotsam in your home was a virtuous activity even before the pandemic, when lockdowns gave millions plenty of time to take a hard look at their stuff.

This artwork started off life as one experimental screen print. I chopped the paper into four and added collected studio paraphernalia and paint. Referencing the beauty of watery places and unexplored precious environments there is so much more to be discovered and to be done to prevent them from becoming polluted beyond recovery. Making artworks from my studio stuff accords this ‘rubbish’ a place for now, rather than ending up in oceans or rivers.

Growing up in Northern Ireland near Belfast through which the River Lagan flows, the word lagan stirs up memories good and bad and I love that a buoy is attached to prevent sinking. My internal flotsam & jetsam & lagan load is lightened by the peace I experience creating works of art.

Mixed Media on Paper – Mounted & Framed 48 x 39cm – Image size 25 x 17.5cm

Flotsam is the floating wreckage of a ship, or its cargo or floating debris washed up by the tide. Jetsam and lagan were items thrown overboard to lighten a ship. Lagan was distinguished from jetsam by having a buoy attached so the goods could be found if they sank. Getting rid of flotsam in your home was a virtuous activity even before the pandemic, when lockdowns gave millions plenty of time to take a hard look at their stuff.

This artwork started off life as one experimental screen print. I chopped the paper into four and added collected studio paraphernalia and paint. Referencing the beauty of watery places and unexplored precious environments there is so much more to be discovered and to be done to prevent them from becoming polluted beyond recovery. Making artworks from my studio stuff accords this ‘rubbish’ a place for now, rather than ending up in oceans or rivers.

Growing up in Northern Ireland near Belfast through which the River Lagan flows, the word lagan stirs up memories good and bad and I love that a buoy is attached to prevent sinking. My internal flotsam & jetsam & lagan load is lightened by the peace I experience creating works of art.

Mixed Media on Canvas Board – Framed 74 x74cm – Image size 51 x 51cm

Flimflammery is a wonderful word for deceptive nonsense, something I think the art world is often guilty of, bamboozling people with over intellectualised descriptions of works of art or an artist’s practice.

In this painting my aim is simply to create something that brings visual joy through my use of colour, shape and texture so please enjoy, and allow your imagination to run free. Over screen printed shapes I have used paint and collage to reveal and conceal elements, resulting in this happy commingling of sumptuous colour.

Flimflammery is often used in the sense of swindling someone out of money – however, if you like this painting and buy it I hope you don’t feel as though you have been swindled!

Mixed Media on Canvas Board – Framed 74 x74cm – Image size 51 x 51cm

Flimflammery is a wonderful word for deceptive nonsense, something I think the art world is often guilty of, bamboozling people with over intellectualised descriptions of works of art or an artist’s practice.

In this painting my aim is simply to create something that brings visual joy through my use of colour, shape and texture so please enjoy, and allow your imagination to run free. Over screen printed shapes I have used paint and collage to reveal and conceal elements, resulting in this happy commingling of sumptuous colour.

Flimflammery is often used in the sense of swindling someone out of money – however, if you like this painting and buy it I hope you don’t feel as though you have been swindled!

Mixed media on Canvas
61cm x 61cm

Various pigments were used to create this work. Sand, grit, Plaster of Paris, pure pigment extracted from stone/rock (by me and bought), acrylic, household paint, PVA & water were crushed and ground, sprinkled, dusted, poured and painted. I am enjoying exploring technique and pigment and love the textural quality here.

This painting contains sunny summer colours and gritty texture – I know what I see!

Mixed Media on Canvas 214 x 122 cm

This painting encompasses all that we are and can be, just like a rock being constantly battered and beaten by the elements and pieces being broken off but still standing, and all that we endure remaining strong and steady for those we love and care about.

The use of pure pigment powder and dust, extracted from rock and pigment I ground down from pebbles with a pestle and mortar or hammered to make rougher textural pieces, has been used along with other ready mixed pigment. This I poured and sprinkled and mixed with different bases brushing the colour onto the canvas gesturally creating movement and drama.

Mixed Media on Canvas 40.5 x 51cm

This painting depicts ambition and doing the best for yourself, and for friends and family and laughing together, striving to be strong and to be the best person you can be which, of course, is sometimes tricky in reality.

Inspiration was my family’s trip to Finland where every day we remarked on the incredible beauty of the sky. ‘Look at the sky’ became our saying of the holiday, and the sight was particularly awesome when we snowmobiled to the top of the world, or so it seemed, to watch the sun setting. It was a steep, incident full journey but well worth the breathtaking scene on arrival.

I have used natural pigments combined with Plaster of Paris sieved like snowflakes falling onto some surfaces, transparent pigment & opaque household paint, gorgeous colours from Farrow & Ball and Designers Guild, to make this painting.

Mixed Media on Canvas 40 x 40 cm

This painting was made using crushed Yorkshire stone, Plaster of Paris, coal dust and pure pigment extracted from rock. Washes of various blues onto the white canvas have created a depth and brightness of hue which excites me. The areas surrounding the blue are like sandy banks and rocky outcrops with marks which could be either contours or man made lines.

The image reminds me of when I lived by the sea and played all day long on the rocks with siblings and friends challenging each other to leap from great heights, and across ravines, cut by the insistent, often violent crashing of the waves making slices through the seemingly indestructible hard jagged rocks.

Many happy holidays in the sun where I grew up meant long languid days stretching for what seemed forever, and when there was never a moment of boredom, living as children as freely as we did then.