An eruption of colour, a sprinkle of glitter and a touch of whimsy - creating art makes me happy.
I am often asked what sort of art I paint.  I often think people imagine studious artists painting beautiful landscapes or wonderful portraits of people or animals. 
But me, I paint happy things! Flowers. trees. the seaside, a full moon - these are all things that make me happy, so this is what I paint.  Cheerful uplifting paintings.  I describe my paintings as Happy Art for a Happy Home​

My artwork is inspired primarily by nature and also by words and colour.  I paint both from my imagination and also inspired by places I visit, especially in beautiful Cornwall and Devon.
Nature, particularly plants and the changing seasons inspire me. I love to walk being surrounded by the ever-changing colours, shapes and textures of nature.  There is so much beauty out there.  I think the earth and its flora and fauna is pretty wondrous and who can fail to be inspired during April/May when all our beautiful hedgerows burst into colour? Or by the beautiful colours of the sea?
I am also inspired by words - poems, song lyrics and stories especially fairy tales, myths and legends.  The titles of my paintings are very important.  While I am out walking, immersing myself in my surroundings, little phrases pop into my head and these are the start of my titles.  Once I have decided on the words I wish to use, I start my painting.

I paint on canvas, paper or board using acrylics, inks and pastels. building up layers.  I use brushes, spray bottles, sponges and my hands.  I like to splash colour around - it makes me happy even though I ruin a lot of furniture and I'm not sure what colour the carpet was!  I have considerable magpie tendencies so I am attracted to pearlescent and glittery paints.
I always have music playing in the background, singing and dancing to music is an essential part of my painting process.  And if the house is empty, I sing very loudly and very badly!  Because music is important to me, I use music manuscript paper in my paintings either layered in the background or as spots within the painting.
I also like to use maps in my work to represent the earth and old OS maps showing the location if I am painting a particular place.

And always, always there is a little sparkle involved.  I stitch in sequins to my paintings at the end of the painting process because they catch the light and shimmer more than paint alone.

I paint from my imagination, of a happy world where daisies dance and the flowers are having a giggle!  I hope that my colourful paintings will make people smile.