Behind Painting

My work is about identity and celebrates difference. I am interested in the privacy / self-exposure dichotomy, who we are and how we self-present. I explore my subject through shape, line and surface decoration, using drawing, printing, paint, textiles & ready-mades. I have organised/curated many group arts events, most recently in 2020 as founder of 'The Covid Chronicle', a unique global record in textiles and stitch, made during the pandemic. Measuring 36 x 1 metres, it equals the 'Bayeux Tapestry' in size. (). The Covid Chronicle toured the UK in 2022 and is now proud to be on exhibition in public space at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital in SW London. Each metre square (consisting of 4 panel submissions) has been individually framed by Acrylidex. The Covid Chronicle is looking for a buyer, the proceeds of a sale would be donated to MIND, the charity for mental health. If interested or know someone who might be, please contact me via My first degree in Education & French majored in developmental psychology, which informed my second degree in Fine Art and Design, where my art explored the construction of personal identity and the nature-nurture debate. The degree piece was shortlisted for the Celeste Art Prize. My working career began in the fashion industry, from teaching at Lucie Clayton's School of Modelling, to selling ready-to-wear collections to the trade for designers Bill Gibb, Zandra Rhodes, Jack Mulqueen, John Bernstein. In recognition of 10 years community work in the arts, I was proud to be awarded the Guardian Civic Award for Arts & Entertainment in Merton, London (2014). This included organising/curating several local group exhibitions, notably at Merton Priory Chapter House in celebration of its 900 years anniversary; I was simultaneously curator of the art made at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability for 5 years; and between 2010-2014 I co-founded the Merton Arts Trail. Artists influencing my practice include Victor Vasareli, Henri Matisse, Cindy Sherman, Alexander McQueen, Eva Hesse, Louise Bourgeois, Pablo Picasso, Diego Velasquez, Michelangelo Caravaggio, Arthur Rackham. The paintings presented on this site are the tip of my working iceberg. Some of it is not for sale, though I am always open to commissions for which Saatchi would receive their due commission. I work in studios in SW London and SW France. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm14Q53oNWY http://www.youtube.