My sketchbooks have been an integral part of my work for years and becoming increasingly so. They get filled with ideas, trying to emulate a mood or weather with a simple gesture, alowing myself to play with colour, markmaking and found objects. I try to detatch myself from the pressure of what it will become and to just enjoy being on location. My sketchbooks are my first port of call, an immediate response to the environment, no barriers. My drawing has become spontaneous…. it is hard to analyse…. I look, take in and draw. The freshness though doesn’t always translate through to the finished painting which can be over thought….. What size? What medium? What process? Once the internal questioning begins the joy of painting vanishes and the painting becomes contrived. My aim with my developing work is to try to bridge that gap. By continuing with the idea of play the piece can evolve rather than pre determining elements. I’ve introduced mixed media into the oils, using marble dust, R&F pigment sticks and gambasol, applying with spatulas, scrapers and knives, with very little brush work. By working in layers it allows me to scrape back and draw back into the paint in a sgraffito manner connecting back to the original image.”