what is your inspiration?

My recent works have been a celebration of the landscapes I've visited, or travelled through on the train. I try to imagine what it's like seeing the these places for the first time. A misty morning when the sun is ready to shine through the low, leafy Cheshire plains, or a rainy July day in the Lake District. To me they look like layers, and the pull to create a permanent memory through a print is irresistible.

you trained as a jeweller - why the transition into printmaking?

I studied Design & Applied Arts at Edinburgh College of Art between 1994-98 where drawing and painting were equally valued as jewellery making. We were encouraged to draw every day & create sketchbooks.

I spent some time at the Edinburgh printmakers studio then, and even went on to create artworks which captured the feel of printmaking without the time & space needed to create them. You see, then as now, I didn't have access to a printmaking studio, so I take the principles and make them kitchen table friendly. That's why the works are rarely larger than A3 (29 x 42cm).

I think became a jeweller because I love noticing tiny details & working with my hands, both of which are elements which transfer into printmaking... the big difference, however, is colour. Mixing inks & creating colour recipes is such a change from working in silver & gold. The tone & intensity of a colour can transform the mood of a print... that's where the magic happens.

what are your favourite aspects of printmaking?

The lines and textures of a print are impossible to create any other way.

The layering using so called 'ghost prints' can create an other worldly atmosphere.

I enjoy the control that using tools gives the finished work. The contrast of the loose painterly marks in the background with the crisp prints layered over the top creates an exciting contrast.

But even though there is a suggestion of the possibility of repeating a print, no two prints are the same, or, at least mine aren't, and that's a good thing. It means whichever print you choose will be uniquely yours.

what's next?

So far, the work that I have created has been inspired by the landscapes near my home in Cheshire or those that I have visited... but recently, I've been asking friends to send me pictures of their favourite places around the world. Places I may have never been... so the next chapter will be a series of prints of places I've never been.

Let's see where it takes us.