I am a self taught painter based in North Norfolk, UK. I’ve always been drawing and creating, but it wasn’t until I completed my A-Levels in 2019 that I began practicing art professionally, taking on commissioned work and exhibiting locally.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have won numerous awards since, including the Sworders’ Art Prize for Emerging Artists, the Sir John Hurt Art Prize (Highly Commended) the John Dalton: Gently Does It Art Prize and the Jackson’s Painting Prize (Subject category award). Last November I appeared on Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year, where my painting of rapper and TV personality Big Zuu was shortlisted by the judges. I am excited to be exhibiting a fresh body of work this year, which has already involved the Society of British Artists’ Bicentennial Exhibition in March, Affordable Art Fair Hampstead and The Jackson’s Painting Prize exhibition at Bankside Gallery, London.
You can find my upcoming shows listed below. I look forward to presenting my first duo exhibition with fellow figurative artist Karen Turner in Norwich this October! I primarily work with oil paint. My figurative work is an examination of body language and inward states. In my paintings I aim to ‘interrupt’ fleeting moments, observing the ways in which the figure naturally contorts and establishes itself in response to it’s environment. I’ve been engaging with my love of realism and traditional methods, finding ways to take an oversaturated genre of art and introduce something new; toying with texture, composition and colour, leaning into the creative potential of experiments and chance marks, finding ways to isolate specific details and work them further.
Attention to detail is really important to me and an integral part of my practice. Time and time again I find myself inspired by the people and animals around me; Most of my subjects have been people that I am close to and I think this has allowed me to communicate expressions and relationships that feel universal. I strive to convey a sense of narrative and personal flair – I think it’s fun to get people treasuring and re-remembering certain moments from their own lives; some stories I would have never heard if it wasn’t for my paintings. I want to encourage people from all walks of life to see the magic in these ‘in-between’ moments.
