I am an Artist, a Stonemason and a Landscaper, driven by my love for the arts, stone and the natural world in all its wonders. I have individual passions for each, and when I can I combine them all together, whether it is an artistically built stone garden or a piece of visual art.
In the art world I have always been drawn to art that had just a little bit more to it than what you see initially, art that would have required mathematics and incredible patience, something that has been obsessed over for hours.
Even as a kid I loved this kind of work. In my first art class back in school, my art teacher handed me a mirror ball, opened a book on a page depicting M. C. Escher's 'Hand with Reflecting Sphere' and told me to get drawing. Since that day, I have been fascinated by Escher and artists like him.
I particularly love the concept of having an image within an image. In the past two months I have been experimenting and discovering my new found passion for photography, as I just bought myself my first DSLR camera. Wandering around in some of my favourite places in the world (some lush green gardens) I have been snapping shots of all the lush spring colour that has just sprung into life.
One of the nicest times to be out in the garden is in the morning when the sun is shining and the dew makes all the plants glisten. One such morning when I returned home after experimenting with some photos of dew drops on plants, I turned to the internet to find somewhere to share some of my days treasures. While searching I came across this competition, and I thought 'wouldn't it be fantastic to put myself into these photos that I love so much'.
Taking inspiration from works by some of my favourite artists like Escher and Jan van Eyck, I set out to create a self portrait of an image (me) within an image (the dew drops on the garden plants). I love the concept of capturing myself in the scene of something I do on a regular basis but in a way that I envisage Escher or Van Eyck would do it. In my case it is me going on one of my garden walks, feasting on the sight of the glistening plants in the dew, and becoming captivated by all the wonders in the garden.
Although my photography skills and equipment are still quite amateur, I am very much excited and inspired to continue this project throughout the year, seeing the changes in the seasons in the plants and locations.
