My oil paintings explore the middle ground between representational and abstract art. I find I am drawn to rural landscapes interrupted by man–made structures, often depicted in my paintings by straight lines and solid, sharp-edged conceptual shapes.

Photography plays an important role in my work, using it as a form of sketchbook with which I record ideas. During the painting process I begin to play with the picture, editing, selecting and allowing the paint to influence me. Mark-making becomes the central focus of my practice. A build up of translucent layers using a wide brush forms the ground of a painting. Strict and controlled marks become entwined with accidental drips or splashes and large energetic brush strokes emerge from behind solid masked out blocks of colour. This history of marks helps to create depth not only in the paint itself, but the image as a whole is transformed from a collection of flat marks into an almost tangible space.

The scenes I describe are always natural in the sense that they are something you can find every day if you simply stop to look. Many of my images are found in reflections, often in everyday surroundings and in unexpected places that at first can appear banal and uninteresting but which, with closer scrutiny, can reveal so much more. Images are naturally fragmented by glass; objects are given a shadow, a softer faded replica or an outline. Light is an essential theme in my paintings whether dappled sunlight shining through trees or vertical streaks of light reflected off the glass. An exaggerated depth of field allows light to burn through and soften the edges of crisp leaves and branches. By playing with optics in this way I am creating a filter between the viewer and the figurative subject.