Abstracts
Explorations in Ink and Acrylics
‘Koi’ (2026)
Water-based ink on handmade washi-style paper from Nepal
94cm x 68cmAn abstract is an invitation. I encourage a viewer to pause, and, doing so, to complete the creative process I began.
It’s never my intention to tell a viewer how they should read a picture. Just as the creative process is a conversation between me, the materials and the surface, so the encounter between viewer and finished picture is an act of creative engagement.
The viewer completes the picture, not me.
'Cause/Effect' (2025)
India Ink on handmade, recycled paper from India
94cm x 76cmEven the most austere of abstracts is a joyful statement, and open-ended celebration of creative possibility - my own and the viewer’s.
In these works I reject the notion of definition or certainty. I want to encourage, instead, ambiguity and to extend an invitation to embark on journeys of discovery.
'Jackdaw' (2025)
Ink on recycled handmade paper from India.
76cm x 94cmAll my works contain inks - water-based or acrylic, commercial or home made. Some also use highly diluted acrylic paints, to create complexities of depth and dimensionality.
I usually work on very wet paper or canvas, encouraging flow and blending, watching as the materials reveal how they respond to the surface, and giving myself space to respond to what they’re telling me.
'Evolution' (2026)
Diluted Acrylics & Ink on canvas
60cm x 90cm
'Nebulae' (2026)
Diluted Acrylics & Ink on canvas.
78cm x 63cm
'Born in Fire' (2026)
Acrylic & Inks on Canvas
64cm x 92cmArtist’s Statement
Painting is practical and physical - a conversation between my body and the materials I work with.
It's an investigation into physical choices: different ways of applying ink or paint, different gestures, different consistencies of ink and paint, different sorts of paper.
To paint I must calm my mind and relax my body. I open myself to the materials, the tools, and the surface I’m working on. If I’m distracted, the work I create will be unfocused or superficial.
Painting is a mental discipline as much as a physical one.
Painting, like performance (my previous career) combines fearless creation with spontaneous editing. Anything is possible. Not everything is useful.
I never know how a finished painting will look when I start it. Painting is a conversation between me and the materials.
I don’t finish a painting. The viewer does. I don’t control a viewer’s response. I’ve completed my work when the ink has dried and the picture is framed.
I hope you experience the calm, curiosity and humanity of my process, but that’s not within my control.
Respectfully, I leave it up to you.
CV
2026
Organised and exhibited in Fanad Creatives Exhibition at Fanad Head Lighthouse
Took sole occupancy of studio in The Courthouse, Bushmills
Established Fanad Inks
‘The Art of Calm: Painting With Ink’ - Workshop, Bushmills
2025
Group exhibition ‘Garden of Earthly Delight’, Derry, UK
Initiated ‘Global Localism’ project - local, handmade, speciality materials across borders
Took shared occupancy of studio in The Courthouse, Bushmills
Six-week funded course on ‘The Art of Calm: Painting With Inks’: Fanad
Group exhibition ‘Coast’ at Fort Dunree, Co. Donegal - with Donegal Visual Arts Network
Published ‘Everyday Encouragement’
2024
Established Fanad Art
2010 - 2022
Artistic Director of DUENDE and THE DUENDE SCHOOL OF ENSEMBLE PHYSICAL THEATRE
Published ‘How To Teach Performance’, ‘Climbing The Mountain’, ‘Presence’, ‘Encountering Ensemble’
2004-2010
Senior Lecturer (Drama) & MA Course Leader, University of Huddersfield (UK)
1997-2004
Freelance Performer, Director & Teacher, Australia
1988 - 1997
Freelance Performer, Director & Teacher, UK
1988
MA Theatre Studies, Leeds University, UK