Rosebay

Under my painting name of Rosebay, I make big, bold canvases celebrating the unsung corners of the natural world. 

I take a small area – a patch of rock or tree bark, or a weed-grown piece of land – and let it become a whole landscape in its own right. 

For guidance, I use photographs, my memory and a great deal of artistic licence, often changing the composition quite drastically. 

I stylise shapes, sometimes to the point where they become semi-abstract. Colours are taken at least one step beyond reality – usually several! 

My inspirations are many and include pop art, graffiti art, cartography, Art Nouveau and folk art motifs. Before taking up painting I was a laboratory technician for many years, and knowledge of biological structures definitely plays a part in my work.

I use refillable acrylic marker pens because they enable a direct approach and work well with large canvases.

Occasionally I paint in a slightly different style, piecing together various aspects of a scene and adding more abstract shapes and images. These are based around one or more circles and have a dreamlike, contemplative mood. 

Recently I have also tried my hand at more traditional macro-landscapes, finding particular inspiration in trees in their autumn colours.