All the Little Things

I never intended to be a landscape painter. I was in love with books and stories and felt completely at home in my choice of illustration. I studied this both at Edinburgh College of Art and as a Masters at Brighton University. I made little screen printed books about the characters I loved in northern literature such as Billy Liar and Kes. Looking back now after twenty years of painting landscapes it seems obvious that they were always there.. in my sketchbooks and choices. Why did I draw things from my hometown when I was away from it? What did...

My last blog post was about how I loved my studio at Burlees House in Hebden Bridge and well a lot has changed since then I guess! I am sitting writing in a new studio that still needs some creases ironing out but is working and pretty and I can paint here. Next month it will be half a year since not just my studio but some of my dear friend's spaces were lost in a fire. Only now am I tackling one of the two paintings I managed to save. This morning I have given this fresh paint layers...

This painting began with a walk as most of them do. A late summer evening when the chill had pushed the heat aside . The only warmth that was left was in crimson shoulders and noses. The mist descended. I began thinking about this painting with sketchbook notes and drawings.. The shapes of the plants, colours and the softness of light.  When I began painting I thought about how the path leads on to a thin track with a heart stopping drop. How I always chastise myself for walking that way when the light begins to fade. But then how...

Now Open Studios have finished I am starting to think about Hebden Bridge Print fair, do you know I have been a printmaker 25 years?  It is how I began I began my artistic journey; studying illustration at Edinburgh College of Art and falling in love with screen printing. Now I make cards, limited edition prints and hand printed products. The things I love about printing are: 1. You can turn a black and white pen drawing into a colourful image...and colour brings me joy. 2. The methodical nature of it, once I have set the screen up (which takes...

A while ago I watched "The Sparks Brothers' film. I half wrote this blog post and then left it sleeping as I wasn't sure how it fitted with my other posts. Anyway on a reread it is quite nice, so... Probably like most people I only knew a handful of Sparks hits.  I remember seeing them perform "This Town ain't big enough for the both of us" on "Sounds of the Seventies" and thinking what the heck was that? For those that haven't seen this unusual duo; I will describe... they are two brothers; one on a keyboard and one...