The majority of my work is painted on-site and being outside in all weathers, getting the information first hand is what the process is all about for me. It doesn’t matter whether the painting is good or bad, it either works or it doesn’t – everything is absorbed to be used again at a later stage. Trying to capture the mood and atmosphere of these places, working quickly and simply – it’s the relationship between me and the painting. After several weeks I look at this work with a ‘fresh eye’ and will occasionally refine and develop these paintings in the studio. Similarly I often use unsuccessful works as preliminary sketches for new studio based pieces. This, of course, is where I give even more thought to experimentation, or to work purely from memory.
My use of sketchbooks is quite varied, but always a treasured possession – numbered and ordered; they can take the form of a holiday ‘diary’, making marks when I’m the passenger in a car, drawings during a day walking in the landscape, or sketched paintings on location. I will also draw from photographs which I have taken when my time is limited, sometimes adding paint to these sketches from memory. All this reference material is gathered for the pleasure of mark making. I use it as a basis for studio work, as inspiration and reflection when work is not going well, or as a reminder to re-visit a place for work on-site.
