Both residencies allowed me to work on a much larger scale, developing increasingly elaborate constructed environments, architectural spaces and imagined narratives that explore the peculiarities of contemporary life, social structures and the ways we organise ourselves. Having sustained periods of uninterrupted studio time also allowed ideas to develop in ways that had often been difficult alongside teaching.

These two years have also seen a growing programme of solo and group exhibitions across the UK, including shows in Edinburgh, Oxford, London, Suffolk and Glasgow, alongside new gallery relationships and opportunities. Perhaps the biggest change has been the simple pleasure, and occasional uncertainty, of being able to organise my days entirely around making paintings rather than fitting them into the gaps between teaching commitments. This page brings together some of the paintings, drawings, sketchbooks, exhibitions and studio activity from this rather liberating new chapter.