Working in the landscape -
As drawing is my main love , and the base on which I inform my work , I like the way that encaustic allows me to include my drawing as in the embedded drawing in the piece Drakes Estero . The method of scraping back in encaustic allows my ongoing reductive painting process of what to bury and what to reveal .
In a way to bring more site-specific material into my pieces , and while on a solo residency at the Lucid Art Foundation , CA , I started to incorporate rubbings and natural materials into my encaustic work . I was endeavoring to create a sense of a personality and a presence lived within the atmosphere of place , the power and beauty of the elements and passage of time .
Working out in the landscape is necessary , for me , I find it grounding . If my work is stuck or not progressing freely , it will occur to me and I will ask myself , have you been out and why not ? I am happiest working onsite and intuitively .
A childhood spent in Mid Wales instilled in me , a love of landscape and a certain awe for the power and fluctuations of the elements .
As an inveterate traveler of both land and sea , I draw on these experiences in my work . Many of the physical and mental experiences from my past sailing and competitive windsurfing experiences , together with memories of hiking in the hills of home , to current daily walking , find their way into my work .
Daily observation and reflection are of paramount importance to me .