Originally from Dublin, I was encouraged as a young child to paint by my mother and grandmother, I do not remember a time when I did not paint or draw, the written word is also very important to me, hence I have always kept sketchpads and or/journals. I studied fine art at the Crawford College of Art and Design, in Cork, as a mature student. Having worked in Print and Design after leaving school.My sketchpads, of which I have many, help me to focus, clarify my thoughts, providing distractions and comfort when the external world get too much. As an artist they provide a reference point for other works and in themselves can facilitate opportunities for further development of unformulated new emerging creative ideas. I love books and my sketchpads, become for me windows into my soul, deeply personal, yet cryptic enough to enable me a modem of privacy, in my opinion, unlike a purely written diary. The sketchpad I submitted to your exhibition records a time in my life, which I as artist can instantly recall upon viewing of same book. Symbols and themes tend to recur in my work, both in my waking ans dream world. For me my art has always been my sanity, the need of self expression is always there with me, sketchpads are for me very accessible, and all I need is a pencil, a crayon, or a piece of chalk. I am interested in mark making, that which , unlike observational work , I feel alludes to the inner world, the deep, dark, chasm from which in reality my art and expression are drawn from.