Originally a painter I have been printing for the past 30 years. I love the immediacy and unpredictability of print, the way in which the process itself can produce effects that come as a complete surprise when the paper is lifted from the plate, although admittedly not all surprises are necessarily good ones! I like to use the same plates over and over so that each one develops a little history of its own creating random marks which add to the energy of the print .

My work is landscape derived. I print semi-abstract tactile images based on the colours and forms of the coastline. I am drawn to detailed fragments of the landscape, the patterns and textures of rocks, rusting metal, peeling paint -  the sense of the past pressing upon the present.

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I like to work directly from the landscape, walking, observing and gathering information by sketch book, photograph and found materials. In the studio I explore ideas through the process of quick mono print sketches, and will either continue in monoprint, which sometimes leads to an almost painterly expression of the subject, or  move onto the more labour intensive process of creating a collagraph printing plate. I create this by cutting into, scraping and generally altering the surface texture of greyboard or card to create deep textural marks. There is a similarity between the destruction of the card surface to create the printmaking plate and the effects of erosion on the subjects that I often like to depict.

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Quite a new technique for me has been the making of collages with the scraps from the remains of prints which hadn't quite ' the grade'! An awful lot of time is spent attempting to make that 'perfect print' but along the way there will be many that were almost perfect except perhaps the ink had bled, or I hadn't inked or wiped the plate evenly resulting in a poor print. Although these prints are not fit to exhibit or sell I often find that there is a part of that print worth saving, and I now repurpose those parts of the failed print into making a new collage artwork. If you follow my instagram account you will see that this year I made a collage a day for 100 days all created from my collection of rejected prints.

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I am a member of The Salon Collective a group of Dorset Visual Arts fine art members who come together to discuss art, form connections and exhibit work.