I live in Wirral, Merseyside – close to the sea, as I have done all my life, having moved from Belfast to Liverpool to study Fine Art in 1977. Since graduating with First Class Honours in 1982 I’ve been involved in the arts as a poet and artist and later in counselling and art therapy. I currently work in education and also teach watercolour classes at my studio.

Most of my work is concerned with the landscapes around me – patterns left in the sands and the way light falls on them, and so many aspects, from salt marsh to industrial docklands. I like the link to my hometown of Belfast too.

Working mainly in watercolour (also oils, collage and drawing techniques) it’s usually the light, and the way light alters colour and sculpts the visual world, which makes me interested in making a picture. I’m also interested in lines, both natural and man-made, deliberate and accidental, and how these affect the way we look at our surroundings – perhaps to look closely or the opposite, to look farther. Environmental issues concern me and this is reflected in some recent work.

I’ve exhibited in the North West and in Ireland and was the founder and manager of the Acorn Gallery in Liverpool (now The Egg), which included Artspool quarterly magazine and Merseyside Contemporary Artists, a non-profit artists’ society. I have work in private collections internationally and poems published in magazines, anthologies, film and radio."

2016

22 October – 20 November Wirral Society of Arts members’ exhibition, Williamson Art Gallery

4-31 October Wirral Metropolitan College Art School Staff Exhibition ‘Drawing Conclusions’

11-12 June Wirral Open Studios Tour

25 May onwards Paintings on sale, Blue Moon Gallery, Heswall, Wirral

2 April – 8 May Williamson Open Exhibition, Williamson Art Gallery

2015

December ‘Colour & Light’ – staff exhibition, Wirral Metropolitan College

11 July – 2 Aug Liverpool Urban Sketchers, Lark Lane Art Works, Liverpool 17

13-14 June Wirral Open Studios Tour, based at Williamson Art Gallery

10 Apr 2015 – 10 May Williamson Gallery Open Exhibition, Birkenhead

Dec’14-January onwards Lark Lane Art Works, Liverpool 17

Dec’14-March’15 Collage, Victoria St, Liverpool

2014

December staff exhibition, Wirral Metropolitan College

September-October Heswall Arts Festival: Two Rivers exhibition, Heswall Library, Wirral

September-October Wirral Society of Arts Open Exhibition, Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead

July-October Liverpool Independents Biennial: Lark Lane Art Works mixed show, L17

July Pop-up Shop for Friends of the Williamson Art Gallery, central Birkenhead

July Hoylake Festival of Firsts, mixed show with Two Rivers Art Group

January-February Wirral Spring Open Exhibition, Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead

2013

September-October Heswall Arts Festival mixed exhibition Heswall Library

June Wirral Open Studios Tour

February Wirral Spring Open Exhibition, Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead

2012

14th June – 7th July Liverpool Open, Editions Gallery,16 Cook Street, Liverpool www.editionsltd.net

25th May – 17th June – Illustration & Printmaking, Eggspace, 16 – 18 Newington, Liverpool

2011

18-31 July ‘De-junk, Re-junk’ – Birkenhead Park Visitor Centre

2008

20 Sept-30 Oct Liverpool Independents Biennial, TAG ‘In an Ideal World’ St Brides Church, Liverpool

1-26 May ‘World In One City’ – Eggspace, Newington, Liverpool

Selected Exhibitions, Residencies & Awards pre-2008

Artists Club, Liverpool – prizewinner 1982

Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast – represented 1982-5

Acorn Gallery, Liverpool, curator and exhibitor 1984-2004

Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool – small works group show 1984

Bluecoat Gallery coffee shop, solo show ‘Etches & Sketches’ 1985

Ayling Porteous Gallery, Chester, mixed show 1986

Janimal Gallery, Chester, mixed show 1986

Manchester Academy of Arts Open, British Linen Bank Award 1988

Marie Curie Open Exhibition (exhibited & curated), Colonnades, Albert Dock, Liverpool 1988

Merseyside Artists 5, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, mixed show 1989

Artist-in-Residence, Walker Art Gallery, four day solo studio show April 1989

Merkmal Gallery, Liverpool 1992 – joint show with Lisa Cole Kronenburg

Cheshire County, group touring exhibition 1992-3