My work is essentially optimistic, whatever I am painting, the emotions I aim to evoke are hope and happiness. The trees of the countryside around my home, and the sense of time and belonging that watching them through the seasons brings, quietly inspire and uplift me, and I’m told these feelings are passed on in my work. I try to capture a sense of changing light when I paint, and enjoy the different effects, happy accidents and controlled corrosion of mixed media. I originally trained as a designer (BA hons Fashion, Central St Martins 1993) and the influence of my love of textiles can be seen in my use of colour, texture and pattern. I’ve been painting my elegant, stylised individual trees since 2012, and exhibit them widely. My original tree and floral paintings are available from art galleries and at Art Fairs in the UK and in Europe, Japan, Australia and the Cayman Islands.