My best painting seems to come from my subconscious, so part of my process is finding ways to switch my rational mind off. I realise this sounds like a load of codswallop but this is my conclusion after twenty-five years of painting.

Once I’ve got the main painting down, I then consider it very carefully over some days to establish what needs to be done to finish it. This generally means placing a certain shade of a particular colour exactly in the right place. If, at this stage, the painting isn’t leaping at me with energy and dynamism, it’s generally consigned to a scrap pile to be painted over at a later date.

It often feels like I’m sculpting rather than painting, using a palette knife and a cloth to mould a picture into shape and even though my work is less figurative these days, I’m still trying to express the essence of a particular landscape in certain weather conditions.
My family and I are often touring on bikes and we love spotting birds and flowers so many of my pictures are named for the birds we see, or dream to see.

As for the random divergence into flowers; I’ve just started using my grandmother’s palette board and she was a great flower-artist, how freaky is that?!

My favourite piece of equipment is a curly straw.