Projects and Inspiration
Here you can read about my various projects and the inspiration behind them.
Hornbeams
Ever since I visited Langley Woods a few years ago, an ancient woodland that is part of The Heartwood Forest owned by The Woodland Trust, I been ever so slightly obsessed with its hornbeam trees, the bluebells and anemones, and especially the weird and wonderful twisted bark and tree trunks that are straight out of Grimm's Fairy Tales or Lord of The Rings. You'll also find there are witches brooms on some of the trees, mistletoe and ivy. Holly bushes grow below and littered across the floor are old weathered logs covered in moss and fungi. It's a botanical, folklore, nature watercolour artist's dream.
I would like to go back to Langley Woods and re-explore but with hot press paper instead of cold press, so I can bring the details out more and capture the flow of the hornbeam trees that twist around each other.
In the meantime, I am currently at the start of a new project based on the Hornbeams of Bricket Wood, with the corvids above in the branches.
Bleak Midwinter
The funny thing about my love for nature when it comes to watercolours, is that my favourite time to paint is in the autumn and winter, when most of nature is either asleep or dead. Especially when it comes to trees. There's something about trees without leaves, when you can really see all the shapes of the branches and the texture of the bark all over. Also, autumn and winter is when you get these lovely muted colours of grey, brown, green, orange, red, blue and yellow. Natural, earthy colours which I've always preferred compared to the bright, vivid acid colours of spring and summer. Bright blues, red and yellows are lovely to take photographs of, and to walk in, but it's not my favourite painting palette.
Fairytales & Folklore
Since childhood, fairytales have always been more than just stories to read before bedtime. I always wanted to look deeper into them, and my art has always been inspired by the fairytale illustrators such as Arthur Rackham.
My ambition is to provide illustrations for Childrens' Book, particularly Fairytales and Folklore. Help to bring back wonder and imagination that is centred on nature, wildlife and the past that should not be forgotten.