My personal work developed out of the traditional work. Having trained to paint the natural pattern and rhythms of Nature and to carve three-dimensional stylizations of natural form in ornament, I began to see the potential to alter appearances a bit more, producing a double-take reaction in the viewer.

Picasso said, "Art is not Truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth". My sculptures and paintings are white lies that encourage questioning and lead to a different truth. They are questions rather than statements. Starting with interventions into natural form, I began to juxtapose older imagery with new, sometimes borrowing from historic archetypes to highlight contemporary issues. The first in this vein started in Cumbria during the foot & mouth outbreak of 2001 and became the cover of a book. The 5 paintings from that time formed a series called "The countryside is open for business". Since then other series have developed like "Mortgage a la mode", loosely based around the national obsession with house ownership and "The chronicles of St George", about the eccentricities of Englishness. My sculptures are not generally grouped into series.

The reason I love traditional ornament and decoration is that it was an abstract version of Nature. Art to me is a very ancient way of learning from and having a formal discourse with nature, as well as a means through which to reflect on the fundamental issues of being alive.