My painting started in earnest during the time and space we found for ourselves in the first lockdown of 2020. Having spent years dabbling in paint, embroidery, crochet and more I found a total love for the medium of watercolours and started painting garden birds as something to keep me from too many gloomy thoughts, having recently lost my wonderful Mum, herself an amazing creative and inspiring person.

My love of the outdoors and the need to connect with open space led me to explore a different way of expressing the landscape, using anything I could find to mark out the undulations and merge colours. I tried knocking back the palette to just a few colours and combining marks, much of the time letting the manipulation of the paper and tools guide the water and paint where I want them to be, if I'm lucky. From repeating this process and scaling back I then developed this tighter style, combining the soft washiness of watercolour with a harder graphic representation of landscape.

My framed prints and additional original works are available on my website: www.northstreetstudio.co.uk where you will also find additional products. More from this series will be added once Artweeks 2021 has ended.

I am excited to be exhibiting in Summertown as part of the Spice of Life group, behind the Spice Lounge in Summertown.