I have been painting landscapes in South Wales, where I have lived since 1982, both in the parks of Cardiff and in the nearby Valleys. I painted these entirely on location through close, prolonged and searching observation, and a gradual, cumulative depiction. My painting routine is structured around particular states of light, which recur at certain times of the day and year, and I am fascinated by the ways in which light and shadow can spread across a surface, dissolving, concealing, revealing or emphasising its features. I use acrylic or watercolour on paper, building up the work slowly, delicately and gradually over a long period of time, often applying it in liquid form with small sticks, and building up the image by means of a great number of small coloured marks. These paintings celebrate my delight both in painting and being out of doors in all seasons, responding directly and closely to the changing states and moods of nature.

I began painting landscapes in Italy over 40 years ago, and I try to explore the encounter between the energies of space, growth and light, the changing configurations of colour and surface seen in landscape, working through close, prolonged and searching observation, and a gradual, cumulative depiction. These paintings, made in Garfagnana in Tuscany, are in acrylic or watercolour on paper, and were built up slowly, delicately and gradually over a long period of time. Light, (usually direct and changing sunlight) is a dominant element. I choose very particular states of light, which recur at certain times of the day, and I am fascinated by the ways in which light and shadow spread across a surface, dissolving, concealing, revealing or emphasizing its features.

In these works I explored the encounter between the energies of growth and light, and the changing configurations of colour and surface seen in the Autumn in Roath Park in Cardiff They were painted on location, using watercolour, gouache and acrylic on paper, and each work was built up slowly, delicately and gradually over long periods of time, by means of a large number of small coloured marks. These paintings celebrate a delight both in painting and in being out of doors, and responding directly and closely to the changing states and moods of nature.

These larger than life-size studies of ancient worn-out shoes and industrial workers’ boots, in oil on paper, portray the corpses of once working footwear–visually richer in death than in life-, the ghosts of people and times past, and the passing of an age of heavy industry and hard manual labour. The great beauty of very old worn leather and fragments of rusting metal, glowing in warm sunlight, evoke a lifetime of wear, toil and the individuals who once wore them, and perhaps recall the original meaning of nature mort.

These works portray sequences of bathers enjoying swimming in water and having fun together. I have invented ways of combining handcrafted techniques with images recorded in Italy on digital video, which allows tiny fragments of changing time to be combined together. The shallow bas relief surface gently breaks through the picture plane and enters the space of the viewer, to give an impression of figures who appear to swim within the surface of the work. These quirky, even dreamlike images celebrate the minute, inconsequential, but often surprising moments of everyday life. Repetition and small variations of movement and gesture appear as though frozen, isolated from the familiar flow of time and space, and enhanced by the incessant motion of the sea.

Here I cast found surfaces and imagery into shallow relief in acrylic, and add watercolour, coloured pencils and other media, often on a small scale. These were cast directly from the commonplace, unspectacular fragments of everyday life. These are combined and transformed by the application of colour and shown in fresh ways, and little noticed qualities of shape and surface are amplified. Thus this work is both abstract and representational, and grows from process, serendipity and the accidental encounter with things which turn up in everyday life, including fragments of clothing and small mechanical forms. I have a deep interest in how to explore and exploit the behaviour of familiar materials, media and processes in new ways, and a great curiosity about the things which I see and collect.

These paintings of pieces of fruit, in acrylic or watercolour on paper, were painted over many years from observation in direct sunlight, which enhances and transforms surface and detail. The simple minimal compositions highlight the variety and individuality of each piece of fruit, and nuances of surface, shape, volume, light and colour count considerably.