I create images in my mind, I can see them vividly, they often come to me quite quickly and I try to get them down on paper. Once I’ve captured the macro image I start to work on the detail.

Some of my paintings have stories embedded within them, they need explaining. Sometimes the storyline is simple and needs little clarification and other times it is very complex and needs a detailed explanation. Pictures with a storyline tended to be my favourites.

Once I have the image clear in my mind I choose the artist who I know will best suit the image I want, my artists have different styles and skill sets. I take them through my idea and an outline of what I hope to capture within the final painting. However, once I know the artist “gets it” I let them loose, it wouldn’t be right to try and “straight jacket” them on every brushstroke, I trust them to deliver and add value.

Quite often I use more than one artist on the same painting, I call this coalition art. Beyond Lies More, one of my most complex paintings, involved 3 artists!

I also write poetry and I’m thinking about adding a poem with certain pictures, I did this with Beyond Lies More, this adds a new dimension to the painting and this is something I’d like to do more of - watch my video poem here