I've been an artist for many years and my work has changed and shifted several times over the decades - but one thing that all my work has had in common is the joy of finding inspiration in what is often seen as mundane or ordinary. I think we can all learn from young children who find such excitement in all the normal, every day stuff that surrounds them - there is joy in finding a great stick, wonderment in the tiny bug that is climbing up the window and fascination with all the shapes that the clouds can make.

We really don't need to lose this ordinary joy and life is much richer if we don't.

So, my work now is about this ordinary joy - painting ordinary things that excite me or evoke happy feelings and memories. It is also so important to me that the final work itself brings joy to the viewer and this has developed over recent years into a real love of trompe l'oeil - I enjoy the challenge (and fun!) of making my paintings become the object itself and I hope the viewer enjoys the trick of the eye it brings. It makes me very happy if my work makes someone smile.