I am a contemporary painter who creates evocative semi-abstract paintings of vivid landscapes and figures. I was born in Berlin, Germany and when I was twelve, moved with my parents to Liberia, West Africa. After that I lived in Suriname (South America), North America, Liberia again and finally England, over 35 years ago. I am drawn to beauty of all kinds - be it the beauty of nature or the beauty of the human body, or the beauty of shapes, forms and colours and how they fit together. My paintings are also influenced by the years I lived in Africa and South America - the houses I lived in, the colours, the music and the beauty of these places have left their imprint on my soul and permeate much of my work. My current landscapes are often based on the beautiful Hertfordshire countryside. I work with all types of paint - pastels, acrylics, oils and watercolours - it depends on the subject, and I paint from sketches, reference photos and from images in my head. I also like experimenting with different processes such as pouring, and using epoxy resin. Colour is a very important element in my work because it can so well describe a particular feeling or emotion. My work reflects the culmination of my life experience and turning the best of my memories into paintings. In these I aim to capture the essence of a place or thing, the fleeting moment and the feeling that that moment evoked. My paintings also reflect the beauty in my everyday surroundings and present reality in a personal and dreamlike way. I want to create this illusion, a feeling of heightened awareness which often has no relation to how it actually was - because creating an exaggerated reality is more interesting to me. Our memories too work like that - we often see past events and places in our minds eye in an enhanced way, and give them qualities they never really had.
