Viv and Helen at Home

Print description tt

My friends Viv and Helen commissioned me to create a record of their life at home. We share a common interest in swimming, and over the years they have supported me generously, so this was a very special work for me.

In this print, they are writing and knitting, as they do, surrounded by objects that we all accumulate throughout life: presents from friends, souvenirs from holidays and pieces of art they love.

They installed beautiful hydraulic tiles on their balcony. I love their view, looking straight out towards the beach. The King Alfred building, with its distinctive toboggans, may not be there for much longer, as the council has approved a new development. With that news comes the pang of nostalgia that does not like change, and the feeling that time moves onwards regardless.

Print details

To create this print, I begin by making individual drawings in ink, which I then bring together to form the final composition. I scan these original drawings and digitally add colour. The finished design exists solely in digital form and is printed using archival inks on fine art paper. I release the design as a limited-edition print, available in standard ‘A’ sizes, ranging from A0 (84.1 × 118.9 cm) to A4 (21 × 29.7 cm).

People and Places Revelations of Love

I love visiting the British Library. It regularly hosts different exhibitions, and in January 2025, I saw the show Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, which was fascinating. Among the exhibits was Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love, circa 1675. I have borrowed this title to name my series of prints People and Places: Revelations of Love.

After recovering from her illness, Julian of Norwich chose to live as an anchoress—a woman who voluntarily isolated herself in a cell to dedicate her life to God. During her solitude, she meditated deeply on her spiritual visions. Many years later, she wrote a second version of her Revelations, known as the ‘Long Text,’ where she elaborated on the theological significance of these visions in much greater depth. This version has survived only through 17th-century copies made by English nuns in exile in Paris and Cambrai.

Another masterpiece I saw in this exhibition was a medieval book with an illustration titled Christine de Pisan with Queen Isabeau. Somehow, the vibrant colours of medieval books have also been a source of inspiration for this series

This work echoes many different sources, from Vuillard’s colourful depictions of the domestic patterned interior, many of which I saw at Pallant House Gallery in 2022, to the Alekos Fassianos Foundation, which I visited in Athens during the summer of 2023. Also in a mental periphery I can think of Ben Nicholson still lifes with his everyday objects; or Gwen John interiors, specially one exquisite painting ‘La chambre sur la cour’

The human figure in a scene

I have been running life drawing sessions in Brighton for many years, and the depiction of the human form fascinates me. Through this piece, I aim to express both my personal experiences and the environment where I live. So the inclusion of a figure is very important, referencing one of my living art heroes, artist Louis Fratino, with his modernist cubic contemporary classics. It also draws inspiration from a recent exhibition at Studio Voltaire in London, that featured a pairing of works by Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland, held in the summer of 2024