When art takes over your life - Arundel exhibition

“The paintings in the exhibition are all predominantly seascapes. There are lot of influences from Monet’s work but I don't copy him at all. It is all my own original work. I work from pictures mostly that I take, and the paintings are very heavily influenced by the sea, the sea at different times of the day, particularly at night. I just love trying to paint the sea.

“Art for me is escapism, and with continual guidance from some truly inspirational people this has always enthused me to keep on working. Sir Roy Miles was one such person who was instrumental in giving me the opportunity to exhibit my work in his Mayfair gallery. More importantly he described to me in great detail why I should never give up.

“ Painting gives me the impetus to keep searching for the beauty in nature, looking for colours that appear momentarily in everyday scenes. I live by the ocean and am constantly inspired by the way in which the sea and the sky are constantly changing. I use an iPhone to capture these moments, and when I have that final shot it is used to create the painting. I prepare the canvas with a base coat of up to 12 colours. Allowing this to settle and dry I then start with the build- up process of two or three coats, using various brush techniques.

“I prefer working on a large scale canvas, but there are rare occasions when I do include smaller works. I use acrylic based, pigmented, water resistant artist i nks, which have a high degree of lightfastness. I prepare the canvas with a gesso coat and then a base coat of up to 12 colours. Allowing this to settle and dry, I then start with the build up-process of usually fix to six coats, using various brush techniques. The painting formulates normally over period of days, and at times the canvas can be on the easel for sometimes weeks. Sadly since Covid it has been difficult not being able to exhibit, but the pace of life gave me an opportunity to spend a lot more time creating this collection.”