"Art work that is completely abstract - free from any expression of the environment is like music and can be responded to in the same way.  Our response to line and tone and colour is the same as our response to sounds.  And like music abstract art is thematic.  It holds meaning for us that is beyond expression in words.”  Agnes Martin.

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I’ve considered myself an artist for as long as I can remember and have used chalk pastel as my main medium for many years.  I thought using pastels would be a passing phase but it turned out it wasn’t.  I formalised my art training by going to UCA (University of the Creative Arts) and getting a fine art degree.  It was through this study and the opportunities to see amazing displays of art in Europe and New York on our student trips, that I first came across some of the artists that continue to influence me today.

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The two experiences that stunned me the most powerfully were the first time I saw two ‘real’ Mark Rothko paintings in Paris on our first trip. ( I studied part time so it took 6 years plus the 1 year access course to start with as I was working full time etc) And a few years later when we went to Dia:Beacon a huge gallery that was once a biscuit packing factory on the bank of the Hudson River in a place called Beacon, New York, where I first encountered Agnes Martin’s paintings and On Kawara’s Date paintings.

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When I viewed Agnes Martin’s paintings I was transfixed by them but there were no seats so I sat on the concrete floor.  In On Kawara’s room there was a bench.  Here at LIMBO I have bean bags and folded mats! I want to create a space that allows for time and stillness.

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My paintings are created through standing at the edge of the sea sketching in pocket sized sketchbooks, capturing the energy and movement of the waves as they bounce and crash.  I use these as reference points for the large paintings in the studio which are made listening to specific music. I select a piece that resonates, usually fairly minimal piano music, which I repeatedly listen to until the painting is done.  The whole process is joyful and meditative and I hope to share this  experience in the exhibition.