24th August 2024

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Three watercolour sketches from 2007 I did investigating the theme of movement for a City and Guilds Oil painting course I was studying at the time. It ended up forming the basis of a large oil painting composition using basketball players from the subject matter. The painting no longer exists sadly, and I can’t recall right now if I still have an image of it, but to be honest, I have a feeling over the years that I preferred the loose and spontaneous splashes of colour in the rough and ready sketches. They were the keepers.

22nd August 2024

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I think this goes back to 2009/10. It was a pastel drawing I did of the corner of my studio space at the time. The rolled up canvases, the old chair and my boots on top with tubs of acrylic paint underneath. My studio at Rosetta Art Centre was a room sectioned off from a larger one that housed about 5 other artists. Quite often I was on my own in there and could really enjoy the solitude. It was a particularly experimental time for me, never really focusing on one style of work or subject over another; one minute making large scale relief works, another dripping inks onto wet paper and seeing what happened. From time to time I would really enjoy pinning up large sheets of paper and drawing whatever was in front of me, or setting up a still life (often boots and shoes) and drawing in pastels and charcoals. It was actually quite liberating. This was one of those that I was really happy with. Eventually I remember recreating this same drawing as an acrylic painting on canvas but that one I think has been lost to time, as has the version you can see here.. I don’t recall the painting saying much more than this work though, so I’m glad I still have a record of it at least.

13th August 2024

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This was taken in 2015 during set up of the second year exhibition at UEL The paintings are from my Secret Souls series. My work was up and ready, I just needed to think up some titles, hence the notebook in my hand. I’ve always loved this photo.

11th August 2024

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An ink drawing I made in response to an exhibition at the University of East London in 2015. It was initiated by the artist Gustav Mettzger’s call for artists to remind us of the rich complexity of Nature. I ended up with a series of spontaneous ink drawings of trees when then became part of a group show called Remember Nature.

10th August 2024

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A poster from a residency I did in 2012 with Rosetta Art Centre (as it was known then) in a disused shop in Canning Town. The venue was called The Windows Gallery, and each residency ended with a solo exhibition that could be seen by the public even when the gallery was closed via the large windows (hence the name - see what they did there?). I had a great 5 months there. The studio itself was damp and very cold in the winter - I remember painting in a hoodie and fingerless gloves, but I loved every minute.

3rd August 2024

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Still one of my favourite drawings. This came out of a residency I was doing with the Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2012-13. I was recording rehearsals for a play called Step, performed by the Young Actors Company. I sat in on their process, sketching and taking photos for later reference, producing a series of drawings and sketches that eventually would eventually go on tour with the play. I did this drawing in response to a relaxation exercise the company were being led through - in character - and as they sat up had to name 3 things that made them happy and three things that made them sad. Which gave me the title for the drawing. I was way out of my comfort zone for this. I’d not had much experience drawing from life at the time, especially capturing moments that were gone in a second like this one. Even now, I look back on the experience as one of my prouder achievements.

2nd August 2024

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A still life with fish and chips painted with oils, mixed media on paper. I remember working on this in a crowded studio so I wasn’t the most popular artist at the time - stinking up the studio with food I didn’t even get to eat. I exhibited this in gallery opposite the British Museum in London and was a bit dismayed when people thought the fish I’d laboured over was a piece of chicken.

1st August 2024

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Another find from the vaults. This was made around 2005/6. It was a preliminary pastel sketch before a lager painting in oils but I’ve always liked it in its own right. Not sure the sketch or the painting exists anymore.

31st July 2024

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A small pen and ink sketch I made in Hainault Forest during 2021, My anxiety was very high at the time with the continuing covid situation so I took myself off to the forest for a bit. I parked myself under a tree with my flask of tea, a banana and a chocolate roll and sketched whatever was in front of me. Out of all of them this was the one I was most happy with. Funny how art - even a simple sketch - can place you right back in a certain time and memory.