Confrontation, energy, curiosity, essence of a moment and interaction are the main elements that initially draw me to a new subject and are indicative of the very nature of the animals I have depicted.

When approaching a new body of work I produce a large amount of visual research. Sketching is particularly important as it provides me with a greater understanding of the form. I aim to interpret these drawn qualities into clay and remove the work from pure representation. A jagged line in ink is re-interpreted as a torn clay edge; an arc of soft pencil becomes a soft fold. The energy of the animal and the tautness of the pose are conveyed by a distortion in the medium.

I have started to experiment more with bronze over the last few years as I feel clay can not sustain the demands of some of my ideas in terms of strength and durability.