Artist's Statement

My paintings often start with vivid dreams. I wake up with an image in my mind that haunts me until I can realise it in some way - maybe by painting it, maybe by writing it. Sometimes this tells me I am at a turning point in my life.

I recently began stone carving and my working method is direct. I start chipping away on a block of stone without planning what it will become. First I remove any obvious cracks or fault lines, then I start to chisel around the edges until I gradually begin to feel the direction in which the stone naturally wants to go.

Stone carving is a slow process and I like the unrelenting finality of it. There is no option to change my mind. Once a chunk of stone is removed there is no putting it back. So the work is always moving forward.

It is also a very dusty process, which you see if you visit my studio!