I work on several paintings at once, all at various stages. What is often difficult for people to comprehend is that, when I start a painting, I have no idea in my mind of what it is going to look like. Some of my paintings can take many months, even years to complete – whereas others form fairly quickly, but still take several weeks. I can never tell which will be quick and which will take longer.

I paint on bare, untreated birch ply board, as I love the texture and grain. It comes in large sheets (2.4 x 1.2 metres x 50 mm thick), and for bigger works I add battens for stability. I don’t prime my board, as I like to use the grain of the wood in my work. I do, however, ensure that any bare or thin paint parts are glazed for durability. with a matt or satin glaze to finish.

Paint & applicators
I use acrylic paints of several different makes, as they all have different properties and give different results. I build up the layers with a mixture of opaque, translucent and transparent paint, working across the board in a rhythm and in a seemingly random way. There’s a lot of experimentation to see what paint and tools work with the marks that are already there. I test out ideas for colour and shapes by tacking coloured paper to the picture, and use a wide range of tools from traditional paintbrushes, to fish slices, knives, my hands and anything else I feel appropriate. My sander is one of my most important tools, as I can use it to sand back through parts of a painting to expose the different layers.

When a painting no longer talks to me, I turn it to the wall for a while (days, weeks or months), and then when I turn it back it will let me know if it's finished.




"Every day I write. It helps me consilidate my thinking about a painting: the inspiration behind it, the shape, the form, all the marks, how it talks to me. I think it's a habit I picked up from my father and uncle, who both wrote extensively."

"When I do a 'top mark', which is often a big defining mark, I need to practice first .... so I use bare or nearly bare boards. By this means one painting 'gives birth' to another painting."

"I try to get my marks 'spontaneous', but sometimes have to work at 'refining my spontaneity'!"

Images of work in progress ....