These paintings emerged as I worked in sketchbooks, trying to get to the heart of what interested me and to access that inner place where the dreams are. I wrote and painted and made little books, immersing myself in the processes without looking for specific outcomes. The contrasts between prevailing deep, dark hues overlaid with little blazes of colour was something I was keen to develop - probably as a result of looking at 16th century paintings in The National Gallery in London. The rich darkness of the paint in these, pierced with little jewel-garnishes of colour and the rendering of textures is so dramatically beautiful: pearls, ermine, feathers, velvet, eyes, all glinting their beautiful light.
The pages of the books I made represented small, sequestered, private universes where the mood was saturated with peace and transcendence - ordinary places affording extraordinary moments. To me they felt like little sanctuaries and moments out of time. The paintings I later worked on zoomed in on moments of stillness, joy and quiet exuberance, recording little passages of ephemerality and turning them into tiny celebrations of things we can find in the everyday - if we look for them.