After finishing my early education with a BA in Art and Design, I headed into a number of professional jobs almost all involved in the behind the scenes world of commercial photography:
agent, photo library editor, studio manager, project manager, props, wardrobe, stylist and art director.

In the meantime in the evenings I dabbled on the edges of working in clay and wood – personal projects – until I attended a course in stone carving. It was love and it changed my life.

Stone is simply miraculous to me – every piece is unique. From the humble beginnings of a boulder or rock it brings the possibility of a life hidden inside it. And then once revealed, it sings its own song. It has true gravitas.

The process for me is not an easy one and sometimes painful. I do not know what is inside the stone when I start. Patience is required, and ego has to be ignored – so also does any self doubt. It’s always a challenge and a learning.

My early work was more abstract, and more often than not, featured bird shapes. A few years ago, that changed with Nefertiti’s Dog in 2018. My work became more emotional, and what I sought in my carving and journey into a piece of stone, became a conscious search for a heart connection between myself and whatever creature lived inside. The moment of recognition, that “there you are” moment is a wonder – and never to be taken for granted. I am not interested in detail – I do not want to replicate nature – I am interested in form. Once the form is there, it is like the celebration of a birth, of a new entity with its own unique (and sometimes strange) personality.