Variation on themes, inspired by photography, film and tv stills, translating from small images, often increasing the size dramatically to make large scale charcoal and pastel drawings.
I will often revisit images to draw from, working in series, exploring shifts of tone, mark making or colour so that each new drawing is unique.
Searching, finding and losing my place within the drawings is an ongoing process, each time I return to an image to draw from, it is a new journey of discovery.
I find inspiration in the photographs of many photographers both past and present, such as Eugene Atget, Steiglitz, Misonne, Winogrand and the contemporary photographer Tokihiro Sato to name a few.
Tokihiro Sato has been kind enough to give me permission to work form his photographs, his magical lit woodland photographs were taken in the ancient Japanese beech forests in northern Japan, Shirakami-Sanchi, a Uniseco World Heritage site.
Other sources which inspire me are many and wide ranging, including film, tv, to the small Botanical illustrations from the 1600s – 1800s.
I chose images to translate from intuitively, sometimes a drawing I am working on will affect my choice for the next, which will either be in complete contrast or may follow on in a similar theme or series.
There is something elemental about charcoal, it is one of the least processed of tools to draw with, when I am holding a stick of charcoal I am connected to the material that I am making a mark with.
In contrast I also use soft pastel sticks with their rich array of pigments , differing textures, sometimes combining both charcoal and pastel in the same drawing.
I see all my drawings, all my artwork as translations, shining a light on the original while lending something new of my own.