Really Noticing Painting

My art is the words I can't find. Thank you for taking the time to stop at my shop. Here is my brief story. I had studied Art, design, video and photography at The University of Sunderland. There I was very interested in layers. Physical layers and layers of meaning. My work was very intricate and laboured. Although it was surrealism that got me interested in art initially, I became very excited by modern art and found the ideals to be similar to my own. Equally I was passionate about music and sound and how it can accompany moving (or static) images to create a feeling within the viewer. After returning to Norfolk where I had grown up, I started studying music and set up a band. Later I became a care worker (as music and art were not paying the bills! ) and although I found it rewarding, I still had this strong need to create. In 2012 I became very ill with M.E. I was completely bed bound for a year and unable to have my curtains open most of the time as the light hurt my eyes. I couldn't sit up or roll over. I sometimes couldn't understand what people were saying. I couldn't talk because the brain fog was so bad. But it was this illness that eventually started me creating art again. Eventually I was able to make things from my bed. I would make miniatures out of polymer clay and sometimes draw pictures or designs. As I write I am in bed. The difference is that now, although I still cannot walk unaided and still stay in my home most of the time, I am able to paint again. Only steps away from my bed is my art room where I am able to use actual paint on actual canvases or wooden panels. It feels like such a relief to finally be able to express myself without the need for words. My painting style has completely changed now. I am painting from a different place within myself. It is the only thing I can physically do for myself and the only power and control I have. I find that by painting my abstracts I am finding my voice even when words don't come easy. It feels like finally having a drink after walking around in a desert. I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy creating it.