I did my first oil painting in 2006 with Jeff Gogue. As I travelled so much I didn’t get to paint regularly but would take 5 day blocks while staying with him and his family in Oregon and also in various different places as I travelled the world. Back then I would work on a painting from morning until night and would generally complete a painting in a day (8-12 hours or so). Since having my daughter in 2011 I have really struggled to find a regular pattern with painting, only just managing to snatch an hour or two here and there has left my paintings feeling disjointed. Since setting up our creative space in Shrewsbury things have changed. I have a space to surround myself with my art, to view it 24/7, an easel set up and waiting to be used, and I now have a system in place (similar to my tattooing technique) with layering that works whether I snatch 10 mins or paint for 10 hours straight and I have been so excited to share it with people!

The preparation for teaching my first oil painting workshop November 2015 caused me to question what I do in order to teach it to the best of my ability and it has been invaluable! It has taken my art work in a new exciting direction and has pushed me to paint more. I’m still obsessed/fascinated/compelled to paint people’s eyes, people I know and can photograph myself is what I really love. I love the connection between myself, the muse and the viewer; much like tattooing. I thought oil painting would be a solitary experience but not when you immerse yourself in someone else’s essence in order to express an honest vision of them, their emotion and/or environment. The similarity between my tattooing and painting may be harder to see regarding style but can be seen in my desire to be the tool to create an honest expression of my client/muse.

Following this Hanumantra and I held our premier art exhibition “Reflections” at Shrewsbury Coffee House at the beginning of 2016 with a completely new collection of work, it was a very proud moment for us and we were so happy to have been able to share it with so many clients who came to view it, thank you to you all.

All painting workshops are sold out, more coming soon!

Hanumantra and I are also working on a new ongoing collection of paintings called “The Dawn of Tomorrow”.

Thanks for looking! All the best, Jo x