This is all part of the drive to show what goes into the making of my pieces. The end product, if it works out ok, always looks as if it had just come out all of a piece in one sitting. Whereas in fact there’s a huge difference in the time pieces take. Some emerge quite quickly and seamlessly, while others skulk there waiting to take a definitive form. Some remain years in the planning/possible stage.

But they all take a fair bit of time – the materials and methods I use are pretty time-consuming. Mostly I make the paper first. Even if I don’t, as with the half-finished kiwi piece, the support is prepared first (marouflaged board) and I just can’t discipline myself out of using all sorts of materials.

You can imagine what my studio looks like: paper, boards, paints (lots of), inks, dyes, pigments, tools, brushes – all strewn everywhere in the heat of the moment. And what the punter sees: a tidy, finished piece!