For Artweek, the old wash house in our cottage garden has been transformed into a pop-up gallery. Against the backdrop of the weathered brickwork, you can see a collection of pastel, watercolour and pen pictures. You can also see my sketchbooks.

Subjects include Oxfordshire, the West Country, London, Venice, Greece, New York and Amsterdam. Pictures of villages, cities, harbours and coastlines. What attract me are the atmosphere and colours of the scene. Almost all my pictures are based on sketches or photographs of places I have visited.

I have sketched since I was nine, but started painting more substantial pictures only after I retired. About four years ago, I began to use pastel -- which surprised me, because when I first tried it a long time ago, I didn't get on with it. I found it messy and unresponsive. But I now realise I was using a cheap, brittle set of pastels that I'd bought on the high street. Most pastels you can buy from an art shop are a delight to use, and are much more resposive. It's so simple to add pure colour to the paper in an an instant. You need no water or white spirit or other medium ...just pure pastel.

Last year, I had a picture selected for the Pastel Society annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. I am self-taught; I learned from studying books by artists, attending exhibitions and workshops, regular sketching and experimenting.

If you are interested in finding out more about pastels, I recommend visiting the Pastel Society exhibition which this year is at the Mall Galleries from May 24 to June 3. You can see a wide range of styles.