I feel that once painting found me, it quickly became a vital part of my vocabulary. I love that there are some ideas that can only be expressed visually.

My landscape paintings reflect my emotional reaction to the scene before me. I am less interested in a photorealistic representation of nature, which frees me when it comes to palette and mark-making.

I mostly use oils in my painting process. Many have mentioned this before, but oils have a special viscosity, scent and consistency that renders differently from any other media. However for preparatory work, I use watercolours and paint en plein air in an attempt to capture the immediacy of nature and the landscape of the South Downs.

I tend to collect fleeting scenes, or mementos as I like to think of them, like fragments of visual poetry that otherwise might be lost forever.

I’m inspired by many artists, but there’s something remarkable about the visual language developed by Sir Howard Hodgkin during his lifetime. I admire the economy of his brushwork as much as his sensibility for colour.