I make large drawings using charcoal and pastel, translating from various media such as photography, film and tv, working from A4 print outs and increasing the size dramatically.

 My drawings are translations, shifting from one media to another, altering the scale, exploring shifts of tone, colour and mark making, my intention is to shine a light on the original while creating something new of my own.

I take my inspiration from the works of many photographers both past and present, from Atget through to Winogrand including the contemporary photographer Tokihiro Sato to name a few.

I often revisit images to draw from, working in series,  Tokihiro Sato has been kind enough to give me permission to work form his photographs, his magical lit woodland photographs were taken in the ancient Japanese beech forests in northern Japan, Shirakami-Sanchi, a Uniseco World Heritage site.

There is something elemental about charcoal, it is one of the least processed of tools to draw with, when I am holding a stick of charcoal, I am connected to the material that I am making a mark with.

In contrast I also use soft pastel sticks with their rich array of pigments, differing textures, sometimes combining both charcoal and pastel in the same drawing.