About

Demonstrating at the SWA Exhibition, London Mall Galleries 2019

I am a painter now specialising in light-filled watercolours. My painting practice began in Singapore in 1996 when I returned to my love of portraiture. I was also drawn to the City’s disappearing heritage shophouses and my small oils on paper (below) eventually became a pictorial record, selling out to expatriates and visitors. Architectural commissions followed from the US Embassy, British High Commission, banks and others.

Singapore: Club Street Corner, Middle Rd, Tan Quee Lan St – all oils on paper; British High Commissioner’s Official Residence.

Kuala Lumpur Skyline, watercolour on paper

Moving to Malaysia, I continued selling oils but began to develop watercolours. On my return to the UK in 2006, I could see that they are uniquely suited to capturing the atmospheric British weather and landscapes. I soon opened a studio/gallery in the World Heritage City of Bath, England (pictured below) and now continue to paint watercolour portraits and landscapes to commission and exhibition from my hillside studio.

Illumination (detail) – gravity painting laid bare

For a decade and a half, I have been absorbed in experimenting and exploiting watercolour behaviours. I have found that cascading pigments within water encourages them to mingle and react to create delicate veils of colour and colliding effects. I call these techniques “gravity painting” and explain them to art groups and magazines, as well as in my own intensive Bath Watercolour Workshops.
Below is a short video explaining my painting practice.

I am particularly drawn to larger-than-life head and shoulder portraits where there is space for cascading watercolours to flow and “sing”. By carefully controlling the way light falls on my sitters and adding photographic notes, I create dramatic but intimate records for families and individuals.

Fragile (detail) – pigment chemistry on clay panel

My paintings hang in private collections worldwide, including the Singapore Presidential Palace and have been gifted to HRH Prince Edward by the British High Commission in Singapore. I have exhibited with the Royal Watercolour Society and Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour and I am a Member of the Society of Women Artists, exhibiting at our annual summer exhibition. You can find my exhibition archive here.