Describe what you call yourself/your practice?:

Living in the Wye Valley, I started painting with soft pastels in 2019 to pursue a desire of capturing its natural beauty. While most of my works focus on the surrounding countryside, I also like to work on still lifes. I am self-taught, learning through practice, studying art books and following online tutors. My works are representational and aim for the best level of realism that I can achieve while working with chunky sticks of pigment. I am happy to sacrifice fine details to retain the pleasure of working with pastels. I appreciate pastels for their wide range of colours, brilliance and immediacy. I paint mostly for my own pleasure, but have exhibited and sold pictures at the Herefordshire Art Trail, at Made in Ross gallery and craft store, and also to patrons who have found my works online. I divide my creative time with two other crafts polymer clay and beading, often combining the two to make wearable works of art.