About the Artist

I am a printmaker creating original, handmade, limited edition prints in my studio in Llanwrtyd Wells, set amidst the beauty of mid-Wales.

A long-held interest in archaeology means that I am particularly drawn to the remains of human activity in the landscape. There is often a degree of tension between these structures, their original function, their setting and society’s changing cultural attitudes towards them.

A fundamental tension is also present in printmaking - between the artistic choices and the technical processes involved in the creation of an image.

I am also fascinated by the concept of liminality; by boundaries, thresholds and transitions - in both time and place.

My prints are an attempt to reflect these interests and tensions.

I am a member of Aberystwyth Printmakers, the Swansea Print Workshop, the Irfon Valley Artists & Artisans and the Celf o Gwmpas Artists Network

About My Process

The starting point for a print is usually one of my own photographs. Using a variety of manual and automatic processes, together with compositional sketches, I abstract and manipulate them to achieve a working image which is then transferred to the lino by drawing or tracing. Whilst this may sound like a planned and rigid process it is actually remarkably fluid in nature and frequently benefits from unintended effects.

I was initially attracted to printmaking by its graphic feel and the technical nature of the processes involved. Whilst this technicality might seem at odds with creativity, I have found that the medium offers almost infinite scope for artistic expression. I particularly relish the intellectual, technical and artistic challenges involved in the creation of an image by the repeated transfer of layers of ink onto paper via the medium of carved or etched blocks.

A degree of simplification and abstraction is present in the majority of my work. Partly this is due to the nature of the relief printmaking process, but probably owes more to my artistic influences. These are mainly mid-20th century graphic and commercial art – such as travel posters, advertising and book illustration. A feature of many of these works is the reduction of subjects to simpler forms through the elimination of detail – often to an extreme degree.