About
My work has been described in many ways but I like to see it as playful and vibrant. I have worked on projects internationally and have acquired awards along the way.
My paintings are inspired by nature, it's life cycles, and by memories and dreams. My animated films are hand drawn and painted. They have been screened at film festivals around the world, projected onto the live stage, in cinemas, galleries, onto the sail of a ship and on public television.
My print designs are hand drawn. I see them as moving pieces, not confined to a canvas; sometimes worn as a scarf, sometimes becoming a mural or part of an abstract animated film, sculpture or painting.
My drawings and illustrations range from capturing dancers in motion to dinner table theatrics. I draw every year for the Met Opera, creating prints inspired by their musical productions.
After living in New York City for 28 years, my studio is now based in London...
My paintings, murals and fabric prints are in various private and public collections in the US and the UK. I've been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera House, NYC; the Chicago Lyric Opera, the San Francisco Opera, to create prints and silk scarves inspired by their productions. Album covers, paintings and murals for BMG Sony Classics, NYC and Berlin, oil paintings and fabric designs for Absolut Vodka, a scarf for Delta Airlines. I was commissioned to create two fabric design prints for the United States Department of State, silk scarves for the Pierre Hotel, the Guggenheim Museum, Neiman Marcus, and Liberty of London, and created an award winning illustrated book 'Granita Magic' for Artisan Publishing House, NYC among others.
My animations have been screened at film festivals around the world, winning many awards along the way. I have created animated backdrops for the plays 'Drowning Crow' at the Manhattan Theatre Club and the musical 'Grey Gardens', both of which were realised on Broadway. My animations formed the backdrops for the comic opera 'Naked Revolution' at the Guthrie Theatre Lab in Minneapolis and at The Kitchen, NYC. My animations have been projected with live musical performances at Le Poisson Rouge NYC, City Winery NYC and on the stage at Cornelia Street Cafe, NYC. I have hand animated and directed several short films for HBO TV, PBS TV, and Sesame Street, and animated sequences for the documentary film In Glorious Smell-O-Vision. I animated three highly successful national TV commercials involving 50's Hollywood movie stars as vegetables for Publicis Advertising Agency, USA. MOMA purchased my award winning hand drawn animated film 'Serenade' for their Library film collection.
Awards include
Awarded The Tom Phillips Drawing Prize
First prize Asifa East Charles Samu Award
Black Maria Directors Choice Award
Ann Arbor Film Festival Audience Prize
Best single subject cookbook in the USA; Gourmand award for Granita Magic which I wrote and illustrated is a testament to the marriage of food and art.
(Feel free to contact me for exhibitions, murals, collaborations, or say hello...)
My silkscreen print 'Balancing Act' can be purchased on line at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2024