I was drawn to the idea of artist and muse, or poet and muse in the painting of the poet James Kirkup, and made a painting too big to transport, and in which I lost confidence the more it sat in the studio.

It all starts with Shakespeare’s Henry VI part 3 and I have been working on the theme of fortune for about 10 years when I borrowed a paper crown from a theatre production at the Globe and painted a number of self-portraits wearing the crown (Self-Portrait in a Stolen Crown).

I’ve been working on print through the year; this print is based on shadows seen through new leaf and is 7.62 x 10.16 cm using resin grave.

Groundlessness, Oil on Panel, 45 x 45 cm As ever, my work is connected by the Vanitas theme, though across a wider range of media simply because of the time I’ve been able to devote to projects. 

Here are a couple of paintings, one finished for Dean Clough, and another on my easel (can you see what it is yet?).