I chose not to retire but to become a full-time artist. After 40 years of fitting art into my life I now fit my life around making art. This is pure joy. A day without making some sort of art feels like a day wasted.

After three months working on cityscapes of Tokyo on my return from a visit to Japan in January, we started walking on Dartmoor in the spring and I turned back to landscapes, revelling in the different colours and textures these required.

The paintings, 'Approaching the Tor' 'Glowing Gorse' and 'Walking the Hills' were inspired by these walks. I was captivated by the fields of bluebells and the glowing gorse. The moors are full of contrasts. 'Paddling the Dart' is from a photo that my husband Tim took when he was paddling the Dart in the autumn.

I have just finished working on a series of paintings based on sketches I did during a trip to Leicestershire, returning to the theme of ‘Harnessing the Wind’ and incorporating man-made structures into my landscapes.

In November last year, my husband and I held a successful joint exhibition at The Projection Room in Paignton in aid of Rowcroft Hospice, raising almost £600. I regularly exhibit with Baycat artists.

I work on rescued plywood and MDF. As scrap pieces of wood, they do not lend themselves to being framed. Instead, the wood is mounted on blocks which hold it, as if floating, away from the wall.

I used a warm orange underpainting to get the glow of autumn sunshine behind the leaves. The view is that of someone actually paddling on the Dart.

Acrylic on Plywood

20x41cm

Framed