“I collect everything that seems of value or might eventually be needed – doesn’t everybody?” Hannah Höch.
I am a predominantly abstract artist working in mixed media. My practice is rooted in experimentation, layering, and a deep connection to memory and collected imagery.
I definitely come from the school of Hannah Höch. Like her, I collect—objects, images, snippets of text—anything that seems of value or might one day find its way into my work. My studio is a treasure trove of nostalgia: shelves crammed with memorabilia, boxes overflowing with visual fragments from walks, sailing trips, and adventures near and far. I’m sentimental by nature, and that thread runs deeply through everything I create.
Playfulness and spontaneity are essential when I begin a new series of paintings. I usually work on several at once, starting with a limited colour palette and layering different media—acrylics, oil pastels, crayons, charcoal, nail varnish, even collage. These layers are scratched into, sanded back, and drawn over, building a rich surface from which images or impressions gradually emerge.
As the painting evolves, I begin to refine the piece, introducing detail and adjusting colour to support the emerging narrative or emotional tone. Composition and balance are always central to my process. I want the viewer to be struck first by the whole image, and then be drawn in to explore the smaller details on closer inspection.
As Winston Churchill once said, “When you get a thing the way you want it, leave it alone.” That’s how I know when a piece is finished.
