Artist’s statement

I am drawn to the relationship between people and place — how we shape the land to suit our needs, and how our interventions sit, often awkwardly, within the natural world. My work explores the edges where human life and the natural landscape meet: where cities and suburbs sprawl into countryside, where roads cut through hillsides, and where buildings rise in defiance of organic form.

I am particularly fascinated by the way we inscribe ourselves onto the land. Urban sprawl creeps across fields, farmland is carved into hills, trees are felled or planted according to our desires, and gardens are neatly etched into the wild. Our presence is marked not only by structure, but by light — the glow from homes, streets, and vehicles casting an artificial dominance over the subtle, shifting tones of natural light.

These moments of contrast catch my eye: the flash of unusual flat color from a building glimpsed through trees, a perfectly straight line slicing through undulating terrain, the sudden interruption of the countryside’s rhythm by a man-made element. These visual intrusions become metaphors — for our influence, our need for control, and our often uneasy coexistence with the environment.

To me, the landscape is a living scrapbook of human history. Every mark tells a story: a forgotten settlement, a disused road, an old stone wall overtaken by moss. These remnants reveal how people have used and shaped the land over time, leaving behind visible traces of past lives and values. It feels like an ongoing tension — a quiet battle between human ambition and nature’s resilience, with the frontline constantly shifting.

Through my work, I aim to explore this tension and reflect on the layered, evolving story of our place within the landscape.

Bio

I am an artist living in Brighton, UK.

Having studied in Bristol for a Fine Art degree in the late 1980s, I have exhibited in group and solo shows since this time. I am currently a member of the Sussex Watercolour Society and the Society of Sussex painters, regularly exhibiting with these groups throughout Sussex. I also enjoy taking part in group exhibitions with the Brighton Artist Open Houses during May, this year exhibiting and co-curating at the beautiful Regency Town House with a small group of others.

I submit work to various Open Calls, this year being shortlisted for the Wales Contemporary Prize 2025. Last year I was selected as a finalist for the Jackson’s Art prize and subsequently being taken to the Affordable Art Fair Hampstead and then Bankside Gallery. Previous years include paintings selected for the Bath Open, ING Discerning Eye, Worthing Biennial and Liberation Art Gallery in Brighton.

I took part in the filming as a selected ‘pod’ artist of the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2026. This will be televised in early 2026.

You can read an interview with me here with Sophie Skelton from “Behind the Artist”

EXHIBITIONS:

2025

“Ways of Seeing”, group exhibition, Danny House, Hurstpierpoint

Atelier Open 2025, Brighton, selected group exhibition

“100/50” selected group exhibition, Unit One Gallery, Bard Road, London

“Ordinary” selected group exhibition, The Old Lock Up Gallery, Derbyshire

Society of Sussex Painters annual group show, The Grange Gallery, Rottingdean

"No Hard Shoulder” group exhibition, Regency Town House, Brighton

“Art in Bloom” selected group exhibition, Liberation Art Gallery, Brighton

Wales Contemporary 2025, selected group exhibition, Chelsea & Milford Haven

Mange Tout, Brighton solo exhibition, Feb/March

The Old Lock Up Gallery Open 25, selected group exhibition, Derbyshire

“Light in the Dark” Bobcat gallery selected group exhibition, Putney, London

2024

“Precious Little” selected group exhibition, The Old Lock Up Gallery, Derbyshire

"Conceal Reveal”, selected group exhibition at Liberation Art Gallery, Brighton

Bath Open 2024, selected group exhibition, Victoria Art Gallery , Bath

“Abstract” group exhibition of contemporary Sussex artists, Danny House, Hurstpierpoint

Artwave 24, Sussex watercolour society mixed exhibition, Lewes

Jacksons Art Prize Finalists exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London

‘Connections’, Liberation Art Gallery, Brighton

Society of Sussex Painters group show, The Grange Gallery, Rottingdean

Affordable Art Fair Hampstead, Jackson’s Art Prize Stand

Art At 21, Artist Open House, Seven Dials, Brighton

‘Art In Bloom’, Liberation Art Gallery, Brighton

Lost & Found Brewery Taproom, solo exhibition April

Society of Sussex Painters Centenary Exhibition, Worthing Museum & Art Gallery

2023

OPEN23 worthing museum & art gallery selected mixed exhibition

ING Discerning Eye 2023 the Mall Galleries, London

“A Quiet Wisdom” mixed exhibition of contemporary Sussex artists, Danny House, Hurstpierpoint

Artwave 23, Sussex watercolour society mixed exhibition, Lewes

Lost & Found Brewery Taproom solo exhibition June 2023

“A Slash of Blue” selected mixed exhibition, Gerald Moore Gallery, London

Jane Palmer & Friends, Artist Open Houses, Fiveways, Brighton

2022

Sussex Contemporary 2022, i360 Brighton Seafront, selected mixed exhibition.

“From Downs to the Sea”, Danny House, Hurstpierpoint - mixed exhibition

“Into the light” selected mixed exhibition, Regency Town House, Hove

Jane Palmer & Friends, Artist Open Houses, Fiveways, Brighton

2019 and before

Nou Wave Gallery, Bermondsey, London 2019 - mixed exhibition

Moe’s@the circus, solo exhibition, Brighton. Sept - May 2018

British Fascia Symposium, Solihull 2018

Stanley Road Store @ Buddy and Beehive, Brighton 2017

Studio 45, Brighton 2017

Stanley Road Store, Artists Open Houses, Brighton 2016

Duke of York’s cinema, Brighton - throughout 2016

Jilted Dog Art Gallery, Brighton - solo exhibition 2014

Cavaliero Finn Contemporary Art, London SE24 2010

Cavaliero Finn Contemporary Art, London SE24 2006

Artists Open Houses, Brighton 2002

Art For Nation, Dukes Lane, Brighton 2001

Willy Gunns, London SW18 - solo exhibition 2001

Clapham Picture House, London SW4 - solo exhibtion 2001

Lemon Orbit @ 333 Club, London EC1 - solo exhibition 1998

Clapham Art Gallery, London SW4 - solo exhibition 1997

The Knapp Gallery, London NW1 - solo exhibition 1997

Minds Eye Gallery, selected mixed exhibition, Enfield 1997