People often say that my oil pastel works remind them of tapestries. I suppose it’s a similar way of working, in that each “stitch”, or mark, has to be thoughtfully made so that the work doesn’t look rushed. I like trying to “feel” which colours want to be next to each other, and what they might want to say.
saturday morning (2018), oil pastel on board, 65 x 82 cm (unframed).
One of my regular jogging routes in Johannesburg. The work now lives in a beautiful house in London.
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early evening (2018), oil pastel on board, 65 x 81 cm (unframed).
This work recalls my mother’s beautiful garden in Storms River - the twisted Wisteria in the foreground was particularly lovely to work on.
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Fortriu (2017), oil pastel on card, 62 x 80 cm (unframed).
The 4th century kingdom of the Picts, Fortriu is thought to have been in the north of Scotland. I was working with the idea of landscapes of the mind, and this beautiful name seemed apt.
Baby portrait commission (2016), oil pastel on archival Canson paper, 30 x 21cm. I like seeing how the image emerges throughout the drawing process. The family lives in the UK, so I never met Lily and had to work only from photographs, which is a real challenge.