My paintings have always been based on the English landscape. I have dabbled in other things but for me its landscapes that have held the most interest. I feel a huge amount of satisfaction in trying to create the tension that fills the air just before a thunderstorm, or the atmosphere of being the first one on the beach on a cold autumn morning. As my work has progressed over the years it has been the mood, the light within the painting that has become the central theme. More of the image is taken up by sky, for this gives the light, therefore the mood of the painting. The landscape is almost incidental. This may be because of my locality on the edge of the Cambridgeshire Fens, a notoriously flat area that is dominated by the sky. Also, I can drive for an hour and be on the Norfolk coast, well known for its huge empty beaches where the tide goes out for miles. It has been this portrayal of space that seems to have been behind the success of my work, people writing themselves into the painting, identifying with the solitary figure on the beach.