About

When I finished my training at the Ediburgh Atelier, the master’s final instruction was to stop doing classical drawing and painting and find my own style.  I’d just spent three years learning how to do the finest detail in graphite, then charcoal, then oil in grissaile and then oil in a limited palette - and now I had to find my own style!?

So I started (and still do) master copies of my favourite artists - Sargent, Raeburn, Stott, Sorolla, Zorn, Manet, Casas and others - in an attempt to learn by imitation but also to see if my style emerged from theirs.  It didn’t.  But maybe it did.

I like to work with a limited palette like Zorn and Sargent.  I like the work to have a simplicity like Raeburn and Stott.  I like to play with light like Sorolla.  But most of all I like the message from my paintings to be positive and hopeful.  I think I need that in the world today.

So I now work with two different styles.  One is minimalist and has a simple object that endures: a boat, a lighthouse, a tree.  I do this in collaboration with the photographer Martin Anand.  The second is post impressionist, figurative and has a simple mood: joy, contemplation, togetherness. 

Who knows where it will end, but I hope you like the work.  I welcome visitors to the studio because talking about art is second only to doing art (and we need a break). 

Thanks so much to everyone who has bought or commissioned paintings from me. It brings me joy and I hope the paintings do the same for you.