I have taught art and design over the past 18 years but recently I have been made redundant. I want to use this opportunity and time within an established educational environment, to extend my own practice. At the beginning of the year I worked closely with the Diane M. Rielinger, Co-Director MBLWHOI Library, Massachusetts USA, gaining access to images by Ernst Haeckel. My current paintings emit a dialogue between lapsed historical Fine Art Masters and my own contemporary genre. Expression and simulation resonate within my work, to create powerful, decadent and stunning images, extending the perimeters of contemporary and Historical Fine Art, working in a paradox between the past and present. I want to research into the use of a canvas for decoration, extracting the decorative plane from the interior of the domestic environment into the commercial habitat of a gallery. Developing my understanding of materials upon a surface to emit space and creating layered surfaces and depth of field.

The use of fragile broken marks upon the surface of the pieces creates a parallel between the morphic resonance of a bird’s spirit and the fragility of life. Ornate beaded embellishments are carefully placed upon the canvas, gilding the work to a level of richness.

I intend to over-lay processes with screen-printing of organic structures to create impressions and silhouettes upon the surface of a canvas.

This opportunity would provide a venue in which I can engage with others away form the isolation of the studio, with peers and mentors allowing for interaction and discourse to test my theories and practical explorations, potentially improving and developing my work to provide me with a platform to become an independent professional artist.