My Blue & Gold collection takes photographs and memories of places I have been to — from the Aegean and Mediterranean to the Caribbean — and reinterprets them through the historic cyanotype process and gold leaf.

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Each artwork begins with one of my own photographs, which I transform into a negative. I use the traditional cyanotype process, exposing the image to sunlight to develop the characteristic, intensely beautiful Prussian blue.

 

Before exposure, I work directly onto the negative by hand, painting into selected areas to bring out particular details — the crest of a wave, the movement of the sea, the outline of a figure or the quality of light within the landscape.

 

Cyanotype is an unpredictable process and achieving the image I want often takes many attempts. I adjust and remake each cyanotype until I find the balance of depth, detail and atmosphere that captures the memory and feeling of the original place.

 

Once I am completely happy with the cyanotype, the final image is reproduced as a museum-quality Giclée fine art print on German Etching paper, chosen for its beautiful texture and ability to hold the extraordinary depth of the cyanotype blue.

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I then return to working by hand. Gold leaf is individually applied to every print, and selected elements of the image are hand-painted to introduce further detail, movement and light. This means that although the cyanotype provides the foundation of the edition, every finished artwork is individually made and unique.

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Across the collection, recurring figures, horizons and expanses of water create moments of stillness, while gold leaf introduces warmth and luminosity against the depth of the blue.

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The works form an ongoing series exploring the places that have stayed with me long after the journey has ended — not simply as photographs of where I have been, but as memories transformed through process, colour and touch.

 

A cohesive collection, centred around the idea at the heart of my practice:

 

Bringing Peace Home