My father is a landscape artist and it was watching him at work in his studio that gave me my first introduction to painting. My dad made sure that we all learned to draw as quickly as we learned to read. I benefited from an inspiring art teacher and siblings that built on the foundation that my parents laid and made careers in the arts, (music, writing architecture and painting). But it is only in recent years that I have set up my own studio and am now finding my own voice, and I've found that, although I enjoy painting landscapes (continuing a tradition that my dad worked in) I need to put people in them and that is the direction my painting is going in now. And it's a struggle but a struggle worth fighting because when I do capture the essence of something it is a moment of sheer joy.

My new studio in Dungarvan gives me space to explore new styles and techniques, ways of expression, read up on other artists, catch up with new friends. It's also there I find the time to look at the work of Frida Kahlo, Mary Cassatt and Gwen John. Obviously there are many more artists who have an impact on me; Juan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Norman Rockwell...