About

Inspiration comes from the soul, from music, from my muse, from dreams, from my love of Scotland and from hope for a better world. Many of the paintings reflect hope, peace, tolerance, freedom, positive energy and the power of the individual to make a difference...... for humanity and for our planet. The healing power of music is reflected in others. The artwork is colourful, vibrant, sometimes surreal, often expressionist, occasionally abstract and frequently features trees or standing stones in some way.

Across the eons of time and space and other dimensions I've been lucky enough to find my muse! Not just one muse either but two rather special guys who have had a tremendous impact and influence on my 'art and soul' … my muses! My enabling influences! Both men have provided focus and inspiration for my art. Who are they? My inspirational soul mate, a very profound and wise 'old soul' was my first muse inspiring me immensely in the years preceding his death. My other muse is Midge Ure, another very special soul who inspires me on so many levels, giving me the focus and inspiration I need to paint. Something I'd lost when my partner died. Midge's music touches my soul deeply and without him and his wonderfully inspiring music and that amazing voice of his most of the paintings from recent years would not have been created. But its not just his music that opens that creative and inspirational doorway its the man himself, his warmth and compassion, his gentle spirit. The artistic inspiration from him also comes through dreams ...

The Michael Buerck footage, Band Aid and Live Aid ....that sense of a world coming together, of hands reaching out across the world, of people wanting to make a difference affected me profoundly on all levels. The feeling, the impact remains as does the tremendous respect I have for Midge Ure and Bob Geldof for what they did, for the difference they made and of course this was followed by Live 8 decades later and the ongoing campaigns.....the excellent work by Save the Children and others to tackle child poverty and child mortality around the globe. All this has influenced my art immensely in recent years. Midge's face is often in the paintings as a symbolic representation of ‘our voice’ in the continuing need for change, for justice, but also as the face of hope and compassion.

I always paint to the music that inspires me, that my soul resonates to...ie that of Midge Ure and Ultravox music so there will always be that little bit extra in my artwork... the soul, the energy, the ambience that has flowed into each painting from the music. Music has always played an important part in my life and I have very eclectic tastes which encompass various genres and many different bands but no other music has ever had the effect on my spirit that Midge's does! His music is his soul expression and I relate to so much in it. It can transcend all, taking me to other realms, bringing me up from the lowest lows to the highest highs ... the energy in the music, whether solo or Ultravox is very powerful...soul food! Something as essential to me as air to breathe! It's a creative energy that enables me to paint and much more besides!

Mainly I work with watercolours and ink but I'm certainly not a traditional watercolourist. If there are 'rules' that define techniques for using the medium I probably break them all! The result is an individual style which produces some very original artwork! I also work with acrylics and mixed media.

After so many years in the Highlands and Islands I think of Scotland as my spiritual home...it was the natural beauty of the Highlands, the changing seasons and light that inspired me to take photographs. Inevitably I'm drawn to trees and water!