I love working on both abstract and figurative paintings, acrylic being my favourite medium.
My work has recently become braver and looser, experimenting with quick mark making which is very therapeutic. I like to paint quickly and instinctively, loading the brush with a variety of colours and seeing what happens. It gives my paintings much more energy than when I actively control the making process with a predetermined idea. I have recently been exploring abstract expressionism and abstract figurative approaches to my work, with colour being the most important element to me.
I am strongly influenced by the first seven years of my life, when I lived in the Netherlands, where every festivity and special occasion was celebrated with plentiful decoration with bright colours, fabric and paper. Hand made party hats, streamers and paper sailboats with bunting were eagerly made in the classroom and it’s where I got my love of decoration and colour. Retracing memories and attempting to piece together a patchwork of permanence from my past is becoming increasingly more important to me.
Inspiration comes from vintage toys, children’s books, samplers, patchwork quilts, family photographs, animal figurines, anything that has a story to tell.
I graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2005, with an MA in Mixed Media Textiles.