I have always made portraits of people I know, my family and even strangers on buses and trains. I often work in pastel on paper which gives me a huge range of colours to make experimental and immediate marks. I recently attended a portrait workshop in oils under the tutelage of the artist Tony Robinson, his expert technical skills and knowledge helped me re-examine my own flaws and bad habits giving me a new structure to work with. I am also attend life drawing classes when possible and have worked at Atelier Montmartre and La Grande Chaumiere in Paris. When approaching a figure drawing in pastels I use costumes and props gathered over years, colourful clothes and pieces of interest which can add to the finished piece and when teaching, often dissolve the need to create something of perfection for the students by lightening up the process. It is a practice that underpins my figurative work and is essential to learning.