From Lens to Line

A New Direction in Texture, Colour and Expression

As an artist, I’m always exploring new ways to push my work forward, challenge my creativity, and discover fresh approaches to capturing the world around me. My latest collection of paintings marks an exciting step in that journey, as I’ve been immersing myself in the expressive and wonderfully unpredictable world of palette knife painting.

For this new body of work, I wanted to move away from precision and allow texture, movement, and instinct to take centre stage. Using the palette knife has allowed me to create paintings that feel raw, energetic and alive, building layers of bold colour and expressive mark-making that bring a completely different dimension to each piece.

The collection features a series of landscapes and coastal scenes inspired by places that have always captured my imagination.

Glen Coe has been transformed through sweeping layers of dramatic colour and textured knife work, capturing the power and grandeur of one of Scotland’s most iconic landscapes. The rugged mountains almost demand an expressive approach, and the palette knife allowed me to really emphasise that sense of strength and movement.

A quieter moment can be found in Water Tower in a Field, where I’ve explored the contrast between man-made structure and open landscape. The texture created through the knife gives the surrounding field depth and movement, turning an everyday scene into something vibrant and full of character.

The stunning turquoise waters of Luskentyre Beach provided the perfect inspiration for experimenting with colour. Here, the palette knife allowed me to layer bright blues, whites and bright vivid tones in a way that captures both the beauty and energy of one of Scotland’s most breath taking coastal locations.

Another standout piece in the collection is Vivid Beach, a painting that fully embraces my love of bold colour. This work pushes the expressive possibilities of palette knife painting even further, creating an energetic composition bursting with movement, texture and light.

What excites me most about this collection is how much freedom the palette knife has brought to my work. It encourages spontaneity, forces you to trust your instincts, and creates textures that simply can’t be achieved with a brush alone. It feels like a natural evolution of my ongoing mission to create art that is bold, accessible, and full of life.

I’m delighted that this collection will be showcased as part of my upcoming exhibition, From Lens to Line, at the East Kilbride Arts Centre.

This exhibition celebrates the journey from inspiration to finished artwork — taking moments, memories, landscapes and observations, and transforming them through line, colour, texture and expression into something entirely new.

I’m incredibly excited to share this latest collection and invite people to come along, experience the work in person, and see this new direction in my artistic journey.

From Lens to Line – East Kilbride Arts CentreA celebration of colour, creativity, texture and storytelling through paint.

I look forward to seeing you there.