From cold January to bleak February, low point of the year. A time to add colour to life, if ever there was one. Part of me would love simply to hibernate. That not being feasible, I temd to take refuge in warm bright colours, open fires, highly-seasoned food, dark red wine…

This was made with smallish squares of handmade paper and a very limited palette of red, orange and blues. The colours pop predictably as the hot and cold colours are opposite each other on the colour wheel. Or that’s one way of describing it. Often I strive for subtle shades but sometimes there’s no substitute for vivid pulsating colour. I wonder whether anyone will feel like putting this on their wall.

I’ve also been working on a large piece to do with prisoners’ graffiti in the noneteenth century. I compared scribblings on the wall by French prisoners in a manor house in Normandy with those in a debtors’ prison in Spitalfields. It’s touching to see some of the same images and proccupations. More anon, but here are some pictures of the work in progress. I used to feel shy about exposing any work that wasn’t finished and ready, but now I’m more comfortable about making mistakes – and owning up to them. Again a limited palette, qite similar in fact, but with very different results. Again on handmade paper, but this time using pigments, wax, and oil paints as well as acrylics.

For more details of current and future projects, check out my Facebook artists page.