My roots lie deep in the Cornish landscape, ancestors have farmed in north Cornwall for generations. I was born here (1954) and grew up in a farming family. I returned to live in here in the Lynher Valley on the edge of Bodmin Moor in 1991. My studio is a small converted barn.
I followed a career in teaching, mainly in primary schools, as well as art in secondary school and in further education. On leaving teaching I completing a module of study with University of the Creative Arts to refresh myself with the contemporary art world, particularly looking at abstract painting from post-war to present day.
Living in this very rural corner of Cornwall, I walk every day through fields from the studio or along footpaths and out on the moor. I need that connection with the natural environment, from the wooded valley to the rugged hills and granite tors of Bodmin Moor. These experiences are within my paintings, referencing not only the elements of rural life and landscape, but also the memories, and the generations of lives before us, and this changing world.
