These paintings represent a very selective and idiosyncratic history of the sea, prompted by the painting Admiral Lord Exmouth in the British Folk Art Collection at Compton Verney. Drawing on a range of source material from formal eighteenth and nineteenth century portraiture, folk art, ancient engravings, penny dreadfuls, cigarette trading cards and the odd toby jug, grouped together as an installation, they can be read as a composite and rather disjointed ‘history’ painting. No such history could be written without the inclusion of brutal pirates, intoxicated explorers, naval heroes and at least one tar who’d lost his leg to a stray cannonball!

Some of these works and others in the series are for sale. Please contact me for details.