Towards the Beacon Painting

I was born in Ipswich, Suffolk in the U.K. and from a very early age just wanted 'to do art'. I ran my own graphic design business for 25 years and prior to that was a book cover designer in the publishing world and also a designer for local government. In 2017 I returned to watercolour painting in earnest, a medium that I have always loved. More recently I have discovered the joy of watercolour collage and what I call watercolour marquetry, creating backgrounds and textures and cutting them into each other to create the landscape, this leaves the surface flat, not raised as with conventional collage. A series of semi-abstract collages and paintings are emerging from time spent on the Suffolk Coast over the last five years or so. I often paint en plein air producing watercolour sketches and taking many photographs for future reference. I am drawn to the wilder more natural landscapes that some parts of the UK have to offer, especially the creeks, estuaries and coasts of Suffolk and Essex, a constant source of inspiration and delight!