​I hold the memory of my first visit to Italy in 1949 with fondness. I remember the smell of the ripening figs surrounded by the constant chirrup of the cicadas.  I remember the clarity of light in the Tuscan landscape and the accents of dark cypress trees that followed the curving roads and the soft grey-green of the olive trees that surrounded the stone farm buildings. It seemed to be a magic painting. I used to stay in the villa of my aunt. She was a painter and in her studio the summer heat intensified the heady smell of oil and turpentine and I was spellbound by her skill in picking up rich and apt colours with her large brushes.  I was introduced to the work of Brunelleschi, Donatello and Fra Angelico and the balance between control and freedom that emanates from their work is always an inspiration.  I feel liberated every time I tread on Italian soil. 

A piazza in Siena 1989
Oil in canvas 73x66cm

The courtyard of Brunelleschi’s Spedale degli Innocenti, Florence 2000 
Oil on board  40x46cm

Cypress guarding vineyards and olive trees  2007
Oil on canvas 92x106cm

Pienza  2007  
Oil on canvas 92x106cm

Santa Maria Novella, Florence 1994
Lino cut reduction print 20x27cm. Edition of 8

Study for The annunciation after Fra Angelico 2012
Colour wash on paper 30x43cm

Saint Gerome and the lion, after Vittore Carpaccio 2014
Oil on canvas 96x120cm

Venice 1997 
Oil on canvas  81x79cm

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See the gallery below for more images of my work.