Since leaving Art School in 2006, I have been a Scottish based artist working from various studios in Glasgow. Being located in the heart of Glasgow provides an appropriate setting as my work is strongly rooted in reflecting life here in the West of Scotland. My work is concerned with exploring the bittersweet, everyday human experience. I am moved to make work representing the ordinary places, moments and events, which, I believe capture both the melancholy and the celebratory that I see in life. I was privileged to spend my childhood in the Priesthill Glasgow housing scheme, that most people only see from afar as they speed by on the motorway. By the 1970’s these “Townships” had gained notoriety as bleak, grey places, characterized by poverty, crime, violence and all the ills of society. Yet those who lived in the housing schemes also found in them colour, friendship, humour and a sense of community. It was for me a hugely enriching experience to grow up there and I hope my work reflects something of the vitality of life in the West of Scotland and the colourful tapestry of people’s lives, which I find within it.
I have also been inspired by travel. My work has been energized while spending time abroad with the artistic challenges that a different setting and culture present. In 2006 I was selected by the RSA to be a recipient of the John Kinross Scholarship to Florence and also the British Airways Travel Award, which gave me opportunity to paint in New York. In February 2010 I was awarded the Alexander Graham Munro Travel Prize at the Annual RSW Exhibition. This prize gives me the opportunity to travel anywhere in the world and I am currently planning my itinerary for this trip.
Many of my paintings both in style and subject matter represent the rawness that is the reality of life for many people in modern Scotland. My painting technique is instinctive and often spontaneous, mark-making with numerous implements and mediums. My passion lies in depicting the life story of places and people who rarely find themselves in the spotlight and are often undervalued in society. My painting contains a mixture of pathos, humour, ugliness and beauty. Although much of my work is representational, it is not constrained by the usual conventions of traditional mark- making, technique, and composition. Instead I seek to capture the essence of my subject. My paintings are linked by a strong sense of narrative, which is also explored in my illustrative work. Often my ideas in these smaller works are fully realized in larger paintings.