My paintings and drawings often begin with loose, expressive marks rather than with definite ideas of a finished work. It seems that, in general, if I 'know' where I'm going, the journey never really happens, even when I use recognisable objects to prompt me. I respond to the marks and motifs as I make them, finding and developing relationships among them and creating a sense of space. My works are a record of my experiences of making them, as well as the fleeting experiences of seeing.

I work in a variety of media, including oils, inks and watercolour on canvas or paper. The way the materials behave is an unavoidable influence but, again, I try not to become too fixed on that, as if it is a recipe. Elements of landscape and the processes that made them, as well as the memory and feeling of a place, can all have a bearing on my work. I try to stay open to change and the uncertainty of what I am doing until I feel satisfied by it.

Originally from Dumbarton, my first subject was geology. After careers at The Natural History Museum, the Royal College of Art and The National Archives in London, I studied painting at Leith School of Art and moved to Bute in 2021.