I was inspired to use the collage medium when I saw an exhibition on Matisse.
I first used it as a tool to work out how I should paint a picture. It allowed me to condense and distill shapes in my landscape pictures. It helped me play with the composition and create a colour palette for the pictures. The collage began as a tool but I have kept coming back to the medium and are now pictures to look at in their own right.

I experiment cutting into paper that I have hand painted with acrylic paint. The brushstrokes found in the paint are integral to the picture. I often paint many sheets of paper and then select the best colours.
The shapes I cut and place are found from observation and drawings in the landscape. It is important for me to play and to experiment with collage to create a picture.
