Welcome to THE NATURE PRACTICE
THE NATURE PRACTICE is an evolving part of my artistic life and working practice.
I am an artist, but also someone interested in how a sustainable creative life is actually lived. Over time, I have come to understand that my work deepens when it remains grounded in the natural world, in observation, movement and sustained attention to everyday environments.
In modern life, we are rarely asked to look carefully, We move quickly, absorb endless images, and spend much of our time detached from the physical world around us. Painting asks for something slower; it asks for presence.
The Nature Practice is my commitment to seeing more clearly.
Working directly within woodlands, gardens, landscapes and lived environments, I develop drawings, studies and paintings shaped by season, atmosphere and encounter. These periods of fieldwork inform my wider studio practice, including figurative and narrative paintings rooted in memory, place and human experience.
At its heart, The Nature Practice is about attention: to the living world, to ordinary moments, and to the relationship between people and the environments they inhabit.
Residencies & Fieldwork
A central part of my practice involves working in response to place through periods of fieldwork and artist residencies.
During residencies, I work visibly within landscapes and gardens, creating observational studies and paintings informed by the character of the environment, and the people and history connected to it.
I am particularly interested in cultivated spaces - gardens and areas shaped through care, knowledge and time - and how these environments influence emotional experience. Alongside rivers, woodlands and wilder terrain - I’m fascinated by the way a place can appear constant, while the life passing through it is always in flux. I grew up on the edge of a forest, and was given the freedom to explore it deeply as a child. It became a kind of home, a place where I learned to observe the quiet patterns and routines of everything that lived and moved through it.
What I offer a venue
A professional artist in residence, developing work inspired by place
Visible artistic practice that may be encountered naturally
Calm, optional opportunities for engagement through observation or conversation
Informal artist talks, shared sessions or workshops if appropriate
A lasting artistic response connected to the identity and landscape of the venue
Residencies are approached as collaborative partnerships that enhance connection between environment, people and creative process.
Enquiries regarding residencies and collaborations are welcome.
Seasonal Shared Practice
From spring through to early autumn, I open aspects of The Nature Practice through small monthly outdoor gatherings.
These sessions are grounded in nature, observation and learning to see, rather than simply record. They are not traditional art classes, but shared periods of focused attention where drawing and painting become ways of connecting with environment and each other.
Sessions come in both short and long - 2 hour workshops, or 4 hours with more independent focus. The longer sessions are lightly structured still with an intention and focus, and I am on hand for creative support.
Sessions emphasise:
working directly from nature
slowing down and observing carefully
confidence through looking
quiet concentration and conversation
Groups are intentionally small, allowing space for individual guidance and a calm working atmosphere.
Monthly sessions will run from May to October. We will be working either in private gardens adjacent to my studio in Silchester, next to a woodland and stream. Working outdoors, weather permitting. If there’s rain we’ll work under a gazebo - OR - there will be various pop up gatherings in Winchester, Hampshire, locations TBC.
One to one tuition
I offer a limited number of one to one sessions for individuals seeking focused support within their creative practice.
From complete beginner to seasoned artist wanting to try things differently, the work is shaped around you: your history with art, your available time and what you want this practice to be now and for your future self.
These sessions are practical, thoughtful and responsive to individual needs, and may support:
developing observational drawing and painting
rebuilding confidence after time away from creativity
refining personal direction or working methods
creating a studio practice or building a portfolio
establishing a sustainable creative rhythm
defining your visual style and artistic skills
My approach is grounded in making, looking and conversation - working together within real environments rather than abstract instruction.
Sessions take place in person or online - in person: to your venue of choice within a commutable distance from my studio in Silchester, Hampshire, or at my studio.
Sessions are 90 minutes at £150 per session (plus any travel costs incurred). Longer sessions by arrangement. Pre-purchased in blocks of 6 or 12 sessions.
Over 16s only.
Creative support is available via WhatsApp between sessions for feedback and practical decision making as the work develops.
The benefits of creativity in your life is backed by research you’ve likely read or heard about…
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Engagement in cognitively stimulating activities, including drawing and visual art, is associated with a reduced risk of dementia and slower cognitive decline.
Source: Su et al., Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry (2022).
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Regular participation in visual arts is associated with improved emotional wellbeing, life satisfaction, and sense of meaning, particularly in mid and later life.
Source: World Health Organization, Evidence Review (2019).
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Creative activities such as drawing and making are linked to reduced stress, improved emotional regulation, and lower symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Source: Fancourt & Finn, WHO / UCL (2019).
The Nature Practice Diary documents the ongoing process behind the work.
Sketchbooks, studies and reflections are shared as a living record of observation in real time - tracing how moments encountered in landscape gradually evolve into finished paintings.
The Nature Practice sits alongside my studio work as an artist, connecting fieldwork, painting and shared experience into a sustained way of working rooted in the living world.
Visit The Nature Practice Diary (coming soon)
The nature practice diary
About me
I am primarily a painter interested in how we experience the world through memory, place and everyday life.
My work begins with observation - spending time looking closely at the environments around me, whether that’s a garden, an interior space, or a fleeting moment shared between people. I work both outdoors and in the studio, developing drawings and studies directly from life which later evolve into paintings shaped as much by memory and feeling as by what is seen.
Alongside my studio practice, I founded The Nature Practice, an approach to painting rooted in slowing down and paying attention to the living world. Through fieldwork, residencies and seasonal shared sessions, I explore how observation and creativity can reconnect us with place, presence and a more thoughtful way of seeing.
Painting, for me, is a way of making sense of experience - of noticing what might otherwise be overlooked, and holding it long enough for meaning to emerge.
