About

My practice

Inspired by 30 years of exploring and teaching outdoors in Snowdonia my work tries to express the elemental feel of Snowdonia’s landscapes and seascapes. It also draws on my experiences of travels further afield in remote and wild places .

I am intrigued with the relationship between things; how the wind alters the cloud, how the moon pulls the tide, how the sun sets and rises as we turn on our planet, through time circling the sun. I like to explore how the seeming constant of a mountain relates to the fleeting moments when light catches on an edge, a surface, a ridge or how the beach is eroded by the tide, rocks worn down by the crashing of waves. Living on the west coast of Wales, between the mountains and the sea, means these elemental forces are tangible aspects of my life. Some winters I feel I’m leaning to my right whilst walking north with the south westerlies pounding my left side.

I hope that through my paintings people will get a sense of what it’s like to experience being in a place at a particular moment; its moods and energy, its temporal nature and something of those seeming constants which gradually change over a longer period of time. Slate once laid down under a tropical sea, upended and quarried, and the sea level rising…

Memory also influences my work particularly those sensory experiences of wild winds, torrential rain, warm sunlight, a calm paddle in my canoe on the river. These visceral memories and experiences permeate my work and help me to evolve my work subconsciously.

I love painting “en plein air” but am more interested in mood and elemental forces than trying to capture an exact representation of a particular place.

I use a variety of media in my work; acrylics, water based oils, inks, pastels and charcoal. I aim to explore eco friendly alternatives as a way forward once my current supplies run out.

Career

A 30 year career in Outdoor Education has allowed me to share experiences with groups in the mountains, rivers, coast and forests of Snowdonia and beyond. I am qualified to lead groups in a variety of outdoor activities including mountain walking, rock climbing, canoeing and kayaking, orienteering and bush craft. I’ve led expeditions to India, Brazil and Sweden and had many adventures with my family canoeing in Canada, walking in the Himalayas, climbing in the alps. Working and playing outside has increased my love of wild places and created a desire to preserve them for future generations. I aim to inspire people to engage with wild places and therefore feel strongly enough to act to preserve them. I hope when you look at my work that you sense a bit of the passion for wild places that inspires me to explore and to paint.

About 5 years ago I had the urge to paint again and to ensure that paints, canvas and easel were as integral to packing for a trip as a first aid kit and rucksack. This decision has led me to where I am now, studying for an M.A. The image below left was painted in the Nubra Valley, Ladakh near the Pakistani border and is engrained in my memory forever through the process of painting. The other is of a fairly typical day at work in the outdoors.

Education

2020 – Currently studying for an MA in Fine Art at Aberystwyth University

1986 – B.Ed in Art and Environmental Studies, Liverpool Institute of Higher Education

2007 – Post Graduate Certificate in Development Training, Lancaster University

Exhibitions / Residencies / Projects

Work with young offenders to create a mural and to install a sensory garden in a care home. Stockport Social Services. 1983
Art co-ordinator and classroom teacher. Encouraging parental engagement through art, cookery and literacy and outdoor projects. Wirral. 1986-1988 and 1990-93
Route to Roots project leader, (including art, music, dance, drama and outdoor activities as well as cultural history). Northern Ireland, Wirral Youth Service. 1997
Princes Trust Volunteers – using land art and adventurous activities to facilitate personal development. 1990-2016
Engaging disruptive learners in activity through art and outdoor activities. Kilgarth School. 2001
Led expeditions to India and Brazil for teenagers, including arts projects. World Challenge Expeditions. 1996-2002
Delivered In service training in schools for art and Outdoor Education. Variety of Schools in Wirral. 1993-2016
Commission to produce a “River Map/Painting” for the National White Water Centre, Canolfan Treweryn. 1997
Mentored art and Outdoor Education students (Bangor University) and facilitated a variety of art projects at www.oaklandscentre.co.uk . 1993-2016
Delivery of John Muir Award Training to Outward Bound staff in Aberdyfi, using arts and environmental activities and games. 2004-2007
Delivered art sessions for the charity Odyssey, for people living with cancer. 2004-present
Took part in the Ar Waith ar Daith project run by Walk the Plank. Learned skills in outdoor arts, including, performance, fire drawing, shadow play, lantern making, site décor, dramaturgy. North Wales and Cardiff. 2016
Working on a project combining canoe journeys, art and stories of Welsh Rivers. Current
Residency Ynys Enlli. September 2020
Exhibiting landscape painter at Artworks Aberdyfi, Seren Arts, Machynlleth and Celf Arran Arts Dolgellau. Current
Member of Meirionnydd Arts Society. Current