ABOUT ME

Royal Watercolour Society

In A 2025 I was delighted to be elected as full member of the Royal Watercolour Society - iin 2022 I had been thrilled to be elected as an Associate member of the society. For the last two years I have been a member of the RWS Council working mainly in the area of education.

About me

I live in South East London, but was born in the South Yorkshire mining town of Barnsley where my heart still partly lies. My father was a Polish refugee after the war; he arrived in Britain with cardboard suitcase and a sketchbook.

The landscapes of south east London and elsewhere, and reflections on events past and present, form the main themes of my work

I often focus on the city around me - industrial buildings, blocks of flats, streets and structures of all kinds. Colour and light in unexpected contexts, can provoke an intense personal response. During and following the intense period of the pandemic, like many I have been increasingly drawn to the physical pleasure of drawing and painting natural landscapes en plein air - our garden, local park, Nunhead cemetery, the English coast or the Drome in France.

I usually create series of paintings which often emerge through on- and off-site sketchbook drawings and paintings, still and moving digital images collected on my iPhone. Sketches use charcoal, ink, acrylic, watercolour or pastels.

I work mostly on paper – though have recently used canvas and board - mainly using acrylic, gouache, ink, charcoal. Within individual paintings or series I tend to use a narrow palette, drawing on a range of tools and techniques to develop textures and layers in my work.

I like to think that the images I create provide for the viewer a sense of commitment to a place, a commentary on the continuum of ‘ordinary’ streets and buildings, rural and coastal landscapes.

Towards the end of a career in education I started drawing and painting classes at City Lit in London, finally completing their two year Fine Art course in 2016. I divide my time between art, co-running a children’s book website for parents and teachers, and campaigning on NHS issues including child mental health and migrant health charges - as well as helping to save our local hospital from closure.

Contact me for information about my work

See more news on my exhibitions…