My basement, which doubles as my gallery, is where the artistic magic starts. I prepare all of my canvases here, priming them, and applying the base colours.
The one drawback of this space is the lack of natural light. Everything I do down here is under artificial light, which makes it a suitable place to do my more sombre work (if there is anything sombre about my work). The joyous ones, such as the summer fields, are always done in natural light.
I have an eclectic mix of decoration and adornments down here, for example the contrast between the wakeboards on the ceiling with the displays of some of my more sombre assemblies, but that’s why it’s such an ideal place for all of my canvases to start their stories. I myself started my journey down here as an artist, and now I nurture every one of my pieces down here too. After this first stage, the canvases go on their own journey towards completion. This often involves me taking them outside, where the colours start to resonate and the pieces truly come alive.
