Why did you decide to open a gallery in Southwold?

I still feel very lucky to of grown up on Ferry road in Southwold with views of the harbour and marshes and the beach from my bedroom window. My first proper studio was at the back of my family garage which had view’s of the Adnams dray horses grazing in the fields. I used to take commissions and sell work from here from the age of 16. This made me realise from an early age that a selling space was important. People would need to see my work in order to buy it.

When I graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1995, I knew I wanted to come back home to live and work in Southwold. I loved the sea, the harbour, the landscape, the peace and quiet, the people and the way of life. All my creative inspiration was here.

By the time I was 22 I had lost both parents to cancer and my family home so I had to start with nothing. Although I was encouraged by my art tutors to head to the ‘city’ to work and was offered a very good job as a designer, I came back without any money and just started doing anything creative I could, I produced paintings, design work, I made mosaics from tiles from the local skips, I made big landscape drawings using coffee and tea bags! Gradually I had enough money to rent my first art studio and then my first art gallery.

Losing my parents made me realise that life is too short for not living your life without being passionate about what you do and so I worked really hard to try and make my living as an artist a reality.

I will also be forever grateful for The Princes Trust, who also supported me by buying me my first secondhand kiln and providing me with a business mentor.

Did you go to Art College? And did you enjoy it?

I graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1995. Edinburgh is a beautiful city and the course was very good but I wasn’t happy there. I wanted to produce really bright colourful work and learn all about colour but I felt that bright colour was not really encouraged. My tutor obviously prefered the work of students working in pale creams and greys and in much more sophisticated colour palates! Luckily I had one lady tutor who used to come in once a week who loved colour and loved my work and she would encourage me to keep going.

My dad always gave me great advice and told me to stick with what I naturally love and not to conform to what anyone else wanted me to do. I am so glad I did.

I also went to Cumbria college of Art for two years which was a wonderful experience and made lifelong friends and also really enjoyed Lowestoft College of Art for two years.

How long have you had a gallery?

I opened my first gallery in Southwold over 25 years ago in what was a fish cellar. It was very damp and dark with no windows and smelt of fish but it just about affordable and I was young and determined to make it work.

I made handmade ceramic fishes to highlight the fact that it was a fish cellar…and sold so many that it became something I was known for. I still make ceramic fishes today but not as many!

Luckily people did find me and I sold enough work that I was able to relocate a few years later, round the corner to a much bigger and better location in 16 Queen street, which is where I am today.

How do you balance running a gallery and working on your art?

I do work very hard and very long hours. I love what I do so it doesn’t feel like hard work, it is more of a way of life. I think most artists would say the same.

Several years ago I brought a squash club with my partner, the artist Marc Brown and together we live and work in the squash club. Its a great big space perfect for working on our paintings and printmaking projects.

I have a great gallery team and we all work together to keep the gallery going. We are so passionate about art and contemporary crafts and we love working with our artists to create exhibitions and projects.

Our customers seem to really appreciate art and things that are handmade and we always say we have the best customers in the world! We have wonderful conversations in the gallery and really enjoy one to one interactions.

We have lots of regular returning customers and have seen generations of families grow up in Southwold which has been really joyful to experience.

Why do you love to paint in such bright colours?

Well… I grew up in a house that had a rainbow front door…which said a lot about the family that lived there!

My mother was a potter and loved colour and pattern and our house was full of art, textiles, books and ceramics. We were a very creative family and our home was full of joy.

When I was fifteen, I lost my mother who I absolutley adored and I suffered terrible depression. My father helped me by setting up a studio in the back of our family garage which overlooked the marshes and I would just paint.

My father died only a few years later and my brother and I lost our family home. In that situation you soon realise you either sink or swim. This made me even more determined to focus on positivity and beauty and I started to work in as bright colours as I could. By choosing to use bright colours, I felt hope and joy in my work and by concentrating on work it was a very powerful way of moving forwards, keeping busy and gaining control over a period of my life that was completely devastating.

It worked, as I feel I gradually, over several years, worked my way through my depression as a young adult at the time and my love of colour has grown and grown and I have infused other people with my love of colour now too.

I feel more passionate than ever about colour being used for bringing joy to others in its many shapes and forms, not just in paintings but in many different ways. It is a fascinating subject.

As well as painting, you make ceramics and you are also a printmaker…

I have always enjoyed working in different media. My mother and grandmother were both passionate potters so I grew up surrounded by clay. I use the clay like a canvas, painting and drawing and mono printing onto the surface. I like making wall pieces or sculptural pieces. I really enjoy the process of ceramic making and find it very theraputic. I did lots of screen-printing and large collage work at art college and have my own screen printing studio and various print presses and really enjoy the many different processes of original printmaking. Any kind of mark making in any form, I find really interesting.

Which artists inspire you?

Artists such as Matisse, Andre Duran, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and David Hockney are all firm favourites.

When I finally saw my favourite painting ‘view of Collioure’ by Henri Matisse at the Van Gogh museum in Amsderdam, it made me cry. The colours are so fabulous!

What are you looking forwards to?

As always I am looking forwards to really enjoying a period of really intense studio time.

In the middle of the pandemic I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I have been given the all clear and I am so grateful to have my good health and am very excited about spending even more quality time in my studio

I have always had a constant reminder of how short life can be and how important it is to enjoy each day as much as you can. I feel lucky I have been able to do this through my work.