I am a self-taught artist working in watercolours. I never tire of the beauty of the medium and the long road of trying to master it. I am devoted to improving my art until someone takes the brush from my worn hands and says ‘Have another cup of tea, dear’.

I am based in Yarnton, Oxfordshire with my family. I am a keen gardener and chicken-tickler. I am also a village-renowned worm breeder.

Art is spiritual. It is the pursuit of something we can perceive but speaks of so much more that we can’t really explain. In the simple things of leaf or fashioned stone, people and sky is the mystery of life. I search for meaning and truth and art is an expression of partly knowing but mostly sensing and responding. Is it a form of worship? Oh dear, that sounds too religious.

Nature and art are, for me, intertwined. To paint the world is a form of wonder and devotion.

My best experience of painting was on a blustery day at Worthing pier. I held the paper down as the feisty sea spat its fine spray and grit at me. I worked quickly before the ocean wind could stiffen my fingers. The darkness of the pier against the ragged waves and the grey merging clouds delighted me. Afterwards, I sought the relative protection behind a grassy bank, feeling energised, renewed.