One of the things I love most about being an artist is that no two days - or paintings - ever look the same. I work in a variety of mediums, and that means my artwork can look and feel completely different from one piece to the next. Some days, I’ll be splashing around with watercolours; other days, I’ll be knee-deep in acrylics, lost in pencil lines, or experimenting with digital brushes on my tablet. I’ve never been one to stick to one particular 'look' as I love exploring too much for that! People sometimes tell me they can spot my work instantly, but I’m never quite sure. Maybe there is a hidden thread that ties everything together after all.
I think part of my constant experimenting comes from curiosity. I’ve always been fascinated by texture, like the way watercolour bleeds into the paper, how pencil can capture the softest shadow, or how bold acrylics bring a sense of energy and movement. I’ll happily lose hours just testing how different mediums behave together. The 'rules' of art have never interested me much, because I’d rather make a mess and see what happens!
Funny story, when I first applied to art college, one of the lecturers told me I was afraid of colour. I’d brought along a portfolio filled mostly with pencil work, and while they liked it, they clearly thought I needed to be braver. That comment stuck with me. I think I went home that very day and started throwing colour at everything! Ever since then, I’ve made it my mission to embrace colour in every form. Now, I can’t imagine creating without it. Whether it’s the soft flow of watercolour, the boldness of acrylics, or the digital glow of my tablet, colour has become an essential part of how I express myself.
That said, I still have a deep love for sketching. There’s something wonderfully immediate about a pencil or pen on paper, and the simplicity of it feels grounding. I’ll often start with a pencil or ink sketch, just to get an idea down, and even then, I can’t resist adding a hint of colour. It’s like second nature now. I’ll tell myself I’m only going to draw a line sketch, and before I know it, I’ve reached for my paints!
As for what I draw, well, that's nearly always nature. Animals, plants, trees, wild landscapes - all of those are where my heart lies. I rarely draw people. I think it’s because I love the unpredictability of nature and how it’s never symmetrical, never perfect, and that’s what makes it so inspiring. There’s beauty in chaos, and I think that’s where I feel most at home creatively. I suppose I’m a little wild at heart myself.
So whether it’s a watercolour fox, a digital landscape, or a charcoal sketch of a flower, my work always seems to circle back to nature, colour, and that sense of joyful experimentation. For me, that’s what art is all about - staying curious, staying playful, and never being afraid of a little creative mess.
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