My figurative work has always been inspired by my continued  practise in going to life drawing classes. It is the ultimate drawing challenge to get your proportions correct and an opportunity to draw from life.

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All these paintings I have shown here are painted directly from a model and some have been finished in my studio from a photograph of the same model. The first two paintings were an attempt to combine birds into the composition and were part of a series I started called 'Woman and Birds'. I tried to show the story about the women and placed them in a setting that suggested the narrative, and I hope the titles also help to explain the story.

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The three paintings titled 'Confrontation' 'Anxiety' and 'Acceptance' were a series done at a time of my life when I was going through a huge emotional upheaval and I was very unhappy with myself and my life and the choices I had made......and although it was not intentional, those extremely unhappy,  angry, guilty,  resentful and soul searching times seem to have reflected into and come out in these three paintings !!

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Then the four paintings titled 'Reflecting' 'Thinking' 'Waiting' and 'Dreaming' were painted from a model when I first relocated to the UK.  The thoughts behind these paintings were a direct response to living in a new country and trying to fit in to a new environment and culture, with all the stress and anxiety and emotional baggage that comes with relocating.