Celtic roots, home and family in London

In Skibbereen in 2010 with my Mother (right) and Aunt Kathleen

Tragumna, County Cork Ireland

My main area of work is in the landscape which I draw, responding to the atmosphere and my feelings around a place. It could be the weather, something that has happened in that place, my relationship to that place or sometimes an intuition. Often these drawings become paintings which evolve over a period of time taking in more memory as they develop. This is the case wherever I draw but there are some places, I return to again and again.

Celtic roots

I have for a long time had a fascination with and been drawn to the spirituality and culture of the Celtic nations, ie rooted in the traditions of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany. The honouring of nature, ancestors, and community and the stories and legends ingrained in these spaces where the line between the earth and spirit world is blurred. Most especially for me are Ireland and Cornwall, both of which I find a constant source of inspiration. Southern Ireland and Cornwall are for me places of magic where my imagination is immediately triggered, under an ever-changing sky, battered by a wild sea. A feeling of being on the edge of the world gazing into a mysterious deep blue.

I was born in East London and like many other Londoners, I am descended from immigrants, in my case from County Cork, Southern Ireland and a small town called Skibbereen. My great great grandmother, Ellen (born 1842) immigrated from Skibbereen to London as a young woman, having survived the famine and the disease and devastation caused by it as a small child. The town is immortalised in a folk song, ‘Dear Old Skibbereen’ wherein a father tells his son about the Irish famine and being evicted from their home.

Godrevy Lighthouse, Cornwall, UK

I have visited Skibbereen three times so far, once with my mother, aunt and sister in 2010, and it felt like a home coming for us all as we felt a connection to both the place and to our ancestors, who would have known it so well. My painting Tragumna (above) painted in 2024, is a memory of that time and visiting Tragumna Beach nearby. We had visited with the aim of finding out more about Ellen but unfortunately were unable to find out very much. I am currently working on a project about Ellen and the trauma for her as a small child to witness such hardship and death and eventually to have to leave her home. Having little information about Ellen herself, my research draws on the anecdotal evidence available from the Skibbereen Heritage Centre, who have been very helpful.

https://skibbheritage.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)

Spring 2026 - preparations and resuming the Blackheath Art Society en plein air group

The oldest sweet chestnut in Greenwich Park, April 2026

Greenwich Park daffodils and Rangers House, March 2026

Work in progress

My gessoed sketchbook

Spring in the studio has been a time for starting new paintings, with my next solo show in March 2027 very much on my mind. It has also been a time for preparing surfaces and the relaunch of my en plein air project focussing on my local area and Greenwich Park, where I have been organising sketch meet ups for my local art society Blackheath since 2023.

For my prep, I made some traditional gesso and proceeded to gesso almost everything I could lay my hands on - paper, wood panels, my sketchbook. I have been drawing and painting in watercolour or oil on gessoed paper for a while now and enjoy the textural qualities and the versatility of being able to wash out and scratch into areas. The surface fights back a little and I like that. You can also gild onto it beautifully. I was lucky to have been taught how to make gesso by Dr David Cranswick, a master of traditional painting techniques and I continue to use his recipe.

It was so good to get back to drawing in the park even on a chilly, overcast March morning. It was the first group session since the en plein air exhibition I co curated in January and we had a few more members joining in which was fantastic. I look forward to more sessions as the weather improves.

Memory of Cornwall trip, February 2026

I have just returned from a fruitful trip to the beautiful Helford Estuary in Cornwall for a brief residency/holiday (my holidays always end up as sketch trips). We stayed in the most beautiful cottage on the water's edge, a bit like being on a boat at times and the sea/river was quite rough and stormy when we arrived. The sound of the waves crashing on the sea wall (which was also the boundary of the cottage) was a deep boom causing the whole property to shake. On our first night, I was awoken in the early hours by a blue light coming through a gap in the curtains. I was delighted to see on investigation the light was the almost full moon reflecting off the sea outside and into the room. The waves were no longer rough and choppy, the tide was out and the waves were gently lapping with beams of light breaking the blue eerie light. This sight was so beautiful it made me gasp! Serendipitously, I had brought a project with me to finish - a memory of the triple moon conjunction of exactly a year previous and I felt inspired to finish it the next morning on the kitchen table overlooking the waves. It felt like the moon having shown itself to me had given me permission.