A couple of miles down the road from our house is Biddulph Grange Garden, a National Trust property I’ve visited many times since I was a child. It’s proved to be the perfect place to take an unsettled babe, so inspiring and exciting in equal measures.. He falls asleep, I get to wander and dream. [...]

I seem to be spending a lot of time almost doing nothing of late.. I blame the baby. Still, it’s not all bad, as I spend so much time feeding him I spend a lot of time reading too. But to tell the whole truth, I equally like to watch TV while I’m feeding!  There [...]

I’ve been a little lazy with my painting this year, well, I feel as though I have, I suppose I’ve had a bit of a break from it to some extent. The reason for this was nice, I had a baby a month ago, so I’ve been spending loads of time nesting, painting walls, washing [...]

I love this time of year, the pastel coloured skies, soft blurred cloud formations, the biting cold of the wind on my cheeks.. I’ve particularly enjoyed the couple of hard frosts we’ve had, coating every branch and leaf with a frosting of ice – some mind-bogglingly spectacular views. I enjoy the slowing down after the [...]

I’ve been in the studio, mixing purples and plummy shades for several pieces that are on the go at the moment. There’s one piece, the bottom one, a biggie at 150 x 150 cm, which feels like it’s turning into some sort of a landscape. People often tell me they can see landscapes in my [...]

This week is about browns and pinks. I’m working my way through red pigments at the moment, learning their funny little ways and enjoying the spectrum of pinks I knew was there but had never really used. And for you knitters, here’s the dress! Finished it at the weekend and it’s pretty much perfect, I’m [...]

So, what’s this post all about then? Well, I’ve been rather quiet of late so I thought I’d share a little of what I’ve been up to. Not that I’ve been idle or anything, perhaps devoting a little too much time to knitting, but we all need our hobbies don’t we? Knitting aside, we finally [...]

There’s only really one thing that completely stresses me out these days..  The bubble-wrap should give you a clue.. Yes, it’s wrapping and sending! Small pieces are fine, medium sized pieces are less stressful than they used to be, but large pieces… Oh, the horror!  TNT come and all I can think about for the [...]

Some time last year I decided my mind was full of huge knowledge gaps art-wise and so, on impulse, I bought a subscription to ArtReview. This wasn’t the best idea, it was more a waste of money as each time an issue gets delivered I leaf through it, look at the pictures, and then put [...]

Sometimes I like this piece and sometimes I think it looks as though it could have been painted by any number of people. It’s hanging on the wall at the moment to see if it passes “the wall test”.