The Corner Seat

For me, painting is an intensely absorbing experience: the push and pull of paint on canvas, the alchemy of colour mixing, that layering on of paint, rubbing it off, layering it on again, standing back, assessing, re- assessing. When it goes well - a great sense of achievement; when it doesn’t, a feeling of, ‘I’ve forgotten how to do this!’ As Degas put it, ‘When you don’t know how to paint, it’s easy, but it’s difficult when you do’. I like losing myself in the challenge. I enjoy painting the human figure. Often, these figures are interacting with the landscape - a wistful looking out to sea, for instance - or they may be placed in an interior, which creates a sense of intimacy, giving the viewer a privileged glimpse into a private life. I also like experimenting with colour temperature and palette, and with composition, to see how these affect the emotional impact of a painting, how they can help externalise the inner thoughts and feelings of the women who inhabit them, how they help to create a narrative.

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