Because I was unable to get to my studio during the Covid lockdown, I had to resort to buying art materials online and I ended up using some that I had never used before. I began working on mono-prints and out of these experiments the Roses and Briars paintings emerged.

In Roses & Briars roses appear to be trapped in the middle of tangled vegetation. This seems to me to to have parity with the Covid situation where most people are living under severe restrictions. In addition there has recently been a great deal of publicity about the number of people convicted and imprisoned for crimes that they did not commit and my engagement with this grew as my work developed. In her book Eve Was Shamed Helena Kennedy QC writes about the inequity of a legal system whose policies are particularly weighted against women.

The image of the rose surrounded by stems, roots and foliage is the central theme of these two works and I liked the image of seeming fragility but necessary strength surviving in an inhospitable environment.