about me

The youngest child of an Irish family, my passion for art was passed on to me by my late dad Patrick, who taught me to draw shire-horses by the age of 4. We used to go to the Irish club every Saturday, where he would have a pint of Guinness, & I would sit drawing (he let me have the froth from the top of the Guinness, and now that's what I let my son Alistair do if we go for a quick drink at the weekend - he also takes his drawing book- the circle continues!).

I have no professional training, but I keep telling myself that neither did many painters (I keep repeating it!), and I have had my work appear in magazines, books & cd covers,and the original paintings appear everywhere, I even have some hanging in Japan & America

I work in mixed media and sizes range from small boards to huge canvases. I am particularly influenced by the vibrant styles of the 1950’s giving a strong retro feel to many of my paintings and I love designers like Cath Kidston & Orla Kiely.

I live in Yorkshire and yes, I still likes to draw horses..........

ABOUT MY PAINTINGS

I have been asked many times about the stories behind my paintings, it occurred to me that a lot of them are taken from events in my childhood. This was a revelation as I’d never really thought about it before, I was just grateful that I had ideas at all.

The story begins with a little girl who didn’t have many friends and who spent most of her time drawing or playing with the neighbour’s dog [Sandy]. My dad used to take the time to teach me how to draw, but he could only draw shire horses, [and cubes], as they were his favourite animals. This kept me quiet and out of trouble and still does to this day.

When I was looking through the pictures I realised that when I had a serious point to put across, I always painted animals. The dogs, cats and birds usually have hidden stories or meaning to them.

For example, in ‘Freedom Is What You Make It’, the bird in the painting can leave the cat at any time, even though he’s caged, the door is wide open [as they always are], but he decides to stay because he doesn’t feel trapped, he’s happy. I wouldn’t know where to start if I were to paint people in this situation, it would look far too serious.

In much of my work you will notice certain elements appear time and time again.

For example, ladders, cages, flying animals etc. and the fact that the eyes of my people never look down [unless they are looking at some gorgeous cake]. This all has to do with positivity. The cages are open, the ladders all lead to the sky and the eyes look towards something better.

The little tags with hearts on symbolise love notes & secret admirers.

I paint mouths in the shape of hearts because i believe if you can’t say anything good - say nothing (also I can’t paint mouths very well!).

Flying animals - well, let’s just say that’s the artist’s prerogative!

My most recent work is taken from my home town and the people who live there. It’s full of characters and I can’t imagine ever running out of inspiration as long as I’m living here. ‘Dot and Spot’, ‘A time to Dance’, Wash Day’, etc, are all true to the place I live.

The geese which have appeared recently, live on the river bank at the back of my studio, and every day walk through the town & across the road to swim - stopping traffic on the way (it's a very busy road).

Now that I have moved to a studio above my favourite cafe, doing what I love most in the world, life doesn’t get much better that this. Needless to say, I have informed the regulars at the cafe that they may appear in a painting at some point, so they know to be on their best behavior. It's already started, with food & people eating appearing a bit more regularly!