Inside the studio

I am blessed with a large amount of floor space in my studio here in the UK. This gives me the freedom and flexibility to be as wild and creative as my imagination – knowing I can produce works as big or small as I want. I have a framing room where the wooden bearers are fabricated which houses all the woodworking tools and machinery. Stretching canvas takes care, patience and time so I spend a great deal of care and attention to this before I ever consider painting it. If the foundations are wrong then the finished piece will be a let down. I can’t stand poor workmanship.

For those that know of my work I have a reputation of producing big art. There’s no particular reason why I go big except for the fact that the art of drip and controlled pouring really lends itself to the bigger canvases. You simply get more impact from a really good piece of large art. That doesn’t mean to say that painting one is any easier – in fact it’s quite the opposite, it’s daunting. Go stand in front of a fifteen foot wide piece of white wall and imagine yourself creating something across the whole of it.

My second studio also doubles as a holding areas for recently completed works, for packing and shipping and to show people a piece if they want to come and see it (although it’s not a public gallery you understand – it’ still a workspace). I tend to work on acrylic paintings here whereas I work with enamels in the bigger unit as I have better ventilation. I also have a third studio at home where I can look at more experimental things (more mess you see!)