Art & Bailey

120cm x 170cm

Oil on Canvas (Diptych)

2024

Exhibiting at Mall Galleries London 2024 SWA exhibition June 24-29

Rivers of Blood a diptych. Dance is frequently used by artists to talk about the movement through life. I have tried to use it here to talk about the transition from boyhood to adulthood in almost a moment. A portrait of two people and the relationship between mother and son . As a parent, a mother you raise them up and show them the world, hoping to bring them the strength to face whatever is thrown at them; life always has challenges and trials no matter what we hope for or how hard we try to protect our children, they eventually become their own person. Rivers of blood refers to ties which bind us to our forefathers and descendants through time and life.

A self portrait which is about change standing on the precipice of making decisions looking away from the past towards the future. The dog is an innocent and has no sense of time living only in the present. I am interested in how people see. Western Art has traditionally looked at things from a one point perspective but this isn’t how we actually see. The background is as important as the foreground and the focus of the image is diffused.

Dora and Iwona

150x100cm Oil on Canvas

Mixed media 2021

Exhibited in Aberdeen Art Gallery 2022

The first thing that struck me about Dora and Iwona was the bond of friendship between them. One was never seen without the other upon the school stairs or clearing the detritus of the pupils rubbish on the corridors at Meldrum Academy. Friendships between women tend to be intense close almost like a romance but closer every secret shared every thought expressed without fear of judgement. This togetherness is something I tried to capture in this painting.

Meldrum Dinner Ladies
Oil on Canvas

2023

155cm x 105cm

Oil on Canvas, 2023

Shortlisted for the Chalya Art awards and John Moores Awards

Exhibited The Mall Galleries London 2023 Women in Art Fair

Children grow up and fledge the nest . This was my initial thought. Dance has long been a metaphor for the progression through life and our journey to adulthood. Fathers have traditionally given away their daughters.

I was trying to capture the movement and energy of the dancers and the feeling of danger. It discusses the dangers involved in becoming an adult .

120cm x 75cm

Oil on Canvas
2024

Exhibited in the Mall Galleries SWA exhibition 2024 June 24-29

We are all on journeys in life, some are literal  and some are metaphorical. I have tried to capture the singularity of a moment in a public space. A hidden world of experiences which exists within each person’s journey. The journey of invisible women.

170cm x100cm

Oil on Canvas, 2024

Exhibited in the Mall Galleries, London 2024 SWA Exhibition 24-29th June

Although the majority of people that suffer from domestic or sexual abuse are women it is not only women that suffer. As with women it is something which is hidden and insidious within society something which makes the abused feel guilty. Guilty of allowing it guilty of hiding it . I was exploring the idea of Abi and decided to present an unexpected take on the subject and using a masculine setting I felt emphasised the need for awareness that abuse has a hidden quality and is found where it isn’t expected.

Chat and Chips 120cmx75 cm
Oil on Canvas

Exhibited at The Mall Galleries Women in Art Fair 2023

We talk of family but sometimes the only connection to be had is that with strangers . The singular conversation in that week and only connection with the outside world. The relationships forged through time and kindness. This is a portrait of Donna and my mother at the new "Chippy" in Wigan .

It is a working class environment, a down to earth place of friendliness and connection.

What’s in a dream. Everyone has a dream. Some people are brave enough to live it and some aren’t.

Oil on canvas

105cm x160 cm

120cm x100cm

Oil on Canvas

The idea of how you, as an observer, place yourself within an image and emotionally connect with the protagonists. How a mothers protective instincts come into play when their children are threatened.

Inspired by Artiemesia Gentileschi and Caravaggio.

Modelled by Caravaggio James, her mother and Alex Sinclair Maddocks.

The Dance of Life

Oil on Canvas

120 x 84

Reflections (2020)

Oil on Canvas - Mixed Media

120 x 85

Oil on Canvas

120x 75

Shortlisted for the BP Portrait exhibition 1998.

The most influential people in my life mum and dad. Mum the powerhouse, dad always supportive and there for you.

This is a self portrait including my mother. It is exploring the complex relationship between mother and daughter. It explore the viewpoint and harks back to self portraits by artists throughout history.

Mothers and daughters have a strange relationship which is uniquely feminine. It’s based around love, dominance and control. As we age we become alike and the struggle for appreciation and approval continues. This painting explores this theme as a female subject matter from a female artist. This part of a series of paintings exploring difficult subject matter which deal with aging and ageism. It shows myself in my wedding dress alongside my mother.