WOODLANDS & WALKS
I painted my childhood memories of the UK, through its woodlands, landscapes and pathways.
Some of my earliest memories are being beside the river, with the swans and ducks circling for bread crusts. Perhaps it's because I've seen the photos so many times - myself, my twin sister and my cousin, all of us in our bright coats and 90s fringes - or perhaps it's because it really is my earliest memory. But I'm forever drawn to the river in my home town of Burton on Trent. Even thirty years later, I cannot help but visit, whenever I can, to see if there are any cygnets, any Greylag geese, and what flowers are blooming.
We explored nature as much as we could, and thankfully had indulging parents. Living in England until my tweens, I got to explore diverse landscapes from bright fog at the foot of Snowdonia in Wales (the weather was too bad for us to go up), to the grassy, hilly Devonshire coastline with its hoards of wooden lodges and lawns full of wild rabbits. In complete awe as clouds of starlings bustled and danced in the skies above Aberystwyth, Wales. Cycling through oak-lined avenues in the glorious, tranquil Cotswold's. I used to spend our motorway drives staring up at the trees that loomed and zipped alongside us, wondering what creatures lurked there in the darkness. Badgers, deer, bears, wolves, monsters? A child's imagination can get the better of them.
This collection is part nostalgia, part walk down memory lane, part seeking sanctuary in the familiar.
Below is a gallery of some behind the scenes and finished works from the collection, as well as a link to the available originals.