About me - Willow House Prints

I studied at Liverpool Art School during the 1990s and worked in design, illustration and painting before moving into digital design and technology. As the move to digital artwork gathered pace I was fortunate to study painting, printmaking and letterpress alongside those emerging technologies.

Photograph of an in-progress lino print being pulled from a block. The image shows an old hall with pitched roofs, tall chimneys surrounded by dry stone walls and trees. The print image shows mainly a grey colour with others below, but the image is not yet fully resolved. — An intermediate layer on a reduction linocut print

I take inspiration from Samuel Palmer, Stanley Spencer and Eric Ravilious among others, individuals who continue to shape the British and English identity with their paintings of landscapes idyllic and in transition, informed by the turbulent times they lived through.

20th Century printmakers such as Claire Leighton, Gertrude Hermes, Edward Bawden and Ethelbert White have provided a particular influence over my work in wood and linocut.

All of these artists responded to the rapidly changing landscape of Britain (and how we understand it) in different ways: looking forwards, backwards, or both. They all found new languages in paint and print that continue to fascinate me.

I have created art for as long as I can remember, and since the mid nineties have been producing and selling paintings, and undertaking private painting commissions.

Over the shoulder photograph of the artist at a workbench cutting a design into a very small woodblock using a sketch as a guide. The bench has artist's materials, tools sketches and paintings upon it. — Working on a wood engraving

I first studied ‘traditional’ printmaking – etching, screen and lino – but many years passed before I pursued it in earnest. At first studying the work of Leighton, Hermes, White, Gwenda Morgan, Gwen Raverat, and Iain McNab, I worked in linocut, but very much aiming for the effects from wood engraving at a larger scale.

I now work across all these techniques, producing small-scale wood engravings, reserving linocut for larger and more colourful works. Since 2020 I’ve made my works available for purchase through the print shop here, and my Etsy Store.

History and Archaeology have been a fascination for many years. Britain’s ancient sites have drawn me in, and are a big part of my work. Increasingly social history and it’s art historical context interests me. Notions of place, belonging, the built environment, Arcadian landscapes – and those who inhabit them – are becoming stronger influences.

Thank you for visiting this site – here I’ll share my art practice, completed works, the processes and the inspiration behind each piece.