When we have clear blue skies and the sun is shining after a bleak few weeks of post Christmas, it really lifts the spirits and puts a smile on everyones faces.

Here in North Cornwall, Spring is really just around the corner. The ocean light in the seascapes I can view from our local beaches and cliffs never ceases to take my breathe away. It will never be the same another day, never be repeated, there will always be something different to see.

The mornings are crisp and fresh, the evenings full of stars and the days warming up nicely. I just want to be outside every waking moment.

I have managed to get some days painting outside again and there is nothing like it. The immediacy of working with limited materials but taking direct inspiration and working in response to what I see, but also hear and feel on the breeze. Working with little thought for the end product but bringing the alchemy of paint together with my hand, emotions and instinct . The sunrise brings a different light as it hits the waves front on compared to the end of the day when it is falling from behind. The light bounces off the sea and into the sky and back onto the land and coast giving beautiful strong contrasting shapes but also intensifying the colours.

I'm feeling a renewed vigour and energy for painting outside. The resulting painting is different, exciting and often unpredictable and could often never have been imagined until it is 'there' on the canvas.

Putting the wet paintings back into the boot of the car after a session is slightly nerve wracking as it continues to move as it dries. The leaving them for a few days then in the studio for me to come back to them with fresh eyes, to see what I can make of it. What atmosphere does it create, what shapes does it suggest and how are the colours sitting.

This is where my process lies at the moment and I am exciting to explore more of the Ocean Light .

It makes me think of a piece of poetry from Lemn Sissay 'Let the Light Pour in'

'How do you do it?' said night

How do you wake up and shine?

I keep it simple,' said light

One day at a time'

Thinking about the stunning light we are experiencing at the moment, I'd like to share 'Catching the Light, Widemouth Bay' with you. One of my giclee paper prints, this painting started life outside and evolved back in the studio and captures the changing light on the water over Widemouth Bay. A full tide was running up the beach with the late winter swells still behind it. Every painting still has the memory of that moment captured and I know them all so well. A tiny glimpse, a fleeting piece of light and sky or the way the time of day affects the light on water.