Image credit: Jeff Sheldon

History of Artistic Practise

At the heart of my work is the desire to help others live their lives to the fullest. I long to restore human vulnerability to it's rightful place - as a natural aspect of life. 

It is through others experiences and journeys, we make sense of our own. 

Novels in Development

Not Enough  – This novel explores the messages we take from the family home and how they distort our understanding about who we are. It is a timely work given the increasing pressures to be super-human and perfect, if possible inhuman. Genre: Creative Non-Fiction.

On a Plate - The book looks at the hyper-sexualisation of women today and the struggle to be visible against the backdrop of a pornified society. This work is timely as young women are increasingly reduced to image and sexual appeal, forcing them to become invisible in society from an earlier and earlier age. Genre: Creative Non-Fiction.

Ego, Actually - Written in a psychological thriller style, this story focuses on relationships and family dynamics, unravelling where one starts and the other ends, to show how we can repeat a pattern without knowing it exists. Genre: Creative Non-Fiction 

Junkyard Sessions - A collection of short pieces on everyday life. 

 

Excerpt (Junkyard Sessions)

In the adjoining room a picture of my father with my brother sits on a small coffee table. The photograph captures my father well. He peers out, exhibiting a mix of emotions: pride (always where his sons are concerned), discomfort at being close to another human being, and restlessness. He will be glad when the moment is over and he can go back to his cage, safe from the threat of human contact. I look closely at the image. I discern a stiffening of his body inwards, towards himself and away from the possibility of touch. On the rare occasion he reaches out, it is towards my mother who is most familiar to him. And even then his movements are mechanical and awkward and serve some purpose. Estranged and disconnected from the people closest to him, he focuses upon himself, 'Is his hair alright? Should he comb it?' He looks directly at the camera and endeavours to smile appropriately for the photo, not too much so that it's ridiculous or so little that it becomes a grimace. The photograph taken - they separate each to their own space, like so many of us fearful of any degree of emotional closeness.