Blog

Over the years I’ve had plenty of commissions ranging from a design to go on a pebble to creating a bespoke painting. The difficulty with a commission is that I’m creating a piece of work which has sprung from someone else’s heart and imagination. This means that a whole different approach is required. I have to put my personal ideas aside and interpret the brief as accurately as I can in order to make a personal piece which will delight and please my client.

As you can see, the pieces are in my style but not necessarily my elements. However . I’m always happy to accept commissions, they can be a challenge and I LOVE a challenge!

Around the age of 23 I began to enjoy having disposable income for the first time thanks to my earnings as a freelance illustrator. One weekend I was browsing the stands at the Battersea Arts Fair and I realised that I could afford to buy a piece of art for myself -what a joy!

I fell in love with this little canvas by self taught artist Brenda Brooks. The price was a mere £50 and it was all mine. I still love it now. It marked the beginning of my journey into buying art. I have a very simple criteria- I purchase what I love. Sometimes I can’t explain why I like a piece but I know I have to have it in my life and my home. A painting can be forever and sometimes you grow with it and other times you grow out of it. This one will always remain a favourite.

I’m taking part in the May 2105 Open Studios which started yesterday and runs until May 31st. I’ve cleared the downstairs area of my home and set it up as a gallery shop for 6 days. I’ve created lost of new work and I’m really hoping it’s going to be a HUGE success! It’s completely unpredictable who is going to enter through my doors and buy but that’s part of the appeal. Ideally I would like to make lots of paintings sales and to be approached by one or 2 new galleries. Fingers crossed! 

My maternal grandmother, Eileen Stephens, originally trained and worked as an actress and later on she studied part time as a mature student at Gloucestershire College of Art.
As a young child I couldn’t understand the appeal of her paintings. We had a collection adorning our walls at home and I used to think how childlike and simple they were, and to be honest I didn’t think they were very good!
However, much later on, having studied art myself, I could appreciate their appeal and originality.

I love the freshness, simplicity, colour and purity; these are all qualities I aim to have in my own work.
Eileen is one of my favourite artists and she has definitely influenced my work.

I thought I would begin my first blog post by writing about how many of my childhood images have manifested later on in my work as a professional artist and illustrator. I have a very old tatty box at home full of little drawings and pictures from my youth and it’s so interesting to see how these beginnings have evolved to reappear later on in my work. Almost as if my early thoughts and ideas were a prediction of things to come.

Anyone who’s familiar with my work will know about the recurring romantic elements and again this theme started very early on as some of these pictures are from the age of 9 or 10. If I didn’t still have this box I wouldn’t have been aware of how it all began.

I often drew babies as I’m the eldest of seven and it seemed as if my childhood was burgeoning with new siblings every few years. However I wasn’t keen to have lots myself. One is enough.

I’ll be revisiting this theme further down the line as I’ve got plenty more material…