Under the surface

My paintings are created by layers of drawing, flat colour and many, many layers of glazes. I enjoy that process of defining, erasing, re-defining and re-stating, as slowly the image emerges. Sometimes there are sharp lines, at other times, a softness that obscures and gives ambiguity

In returning to mixed media – and collage in particular – I have found that I can replicate this process, but with the added twist that the ‘under layers’ continue to be visible. The foundations of the piece or the found material that, for me, can be so integral to a specific work remain discernible.

Their meaning is deeply personal and relevant to living on an island. So ferry tickets scatter their way across the surface, to describe the passage from Baltimore to Sherkin Island; remnants of the boxes that Field’s, the supermarket in Skibbereen, use to transport our groceries to us are shredded in to the waves between mainland and island.

My secret world makes me smile: little glimpses, sometimes obvious, sometimes obscured.