Artist Statement

When you view my work, I want you to come away with the same joy I find in my visual explorations and discoveries of the ordinary structures and creatures that inhabit my world here in the Chihuahuan Desert.

I see movement, vibrancy and grandeur in subjects that most people might disregard visually. I search for the animacy of structures in my everyday world—from abandoned buildings and oil trucks, to vegetables and cacti. Far West Texas has also introduced me to animals I previously had no daily dealings with – proud chickens, dignified donkeys and magnificent horses.

I paint from life so that I can freshly capture the immediacy and vitality I see in all of these subjects. I use my paint loosely and intuitively as I explore what I see. The lively blue skies and bold hues of the desert often inspire me to intensify colors and exaggerate perspective.

Having spent most of my life in Belfast, Northern Ireland I illustrated regularly for publications in Northern Ireland, until I moved to Far West. Recent clients include the academic journal Gastronomica, the Herb Companion, the Desert Candle and the Writers Magazine. My paintings are featured in the UTV Art Collection, one of Ireland’s most distinguished corporate collections and I was the featured artist for the summer 2007 issue of The Southern Review. This summer the University of California Press will be publishing a book I illustrated, M. F. K. Fisher among the Pots and Pans.