The most challenging application of the process of responding to initial marks or shapes came when working with a thick, black, felt-tip pen, when change was not allowed and layers could not be used to disguise or hide early versions. These works required confidence and, ultimately, selectivity as, unsurprisingly, not every one of them provided a successful outcome.

All works are felt-tip on paper, 1987 and measure 30 x 21 cm

Initial work became like ‘limbering up’ or undertaking exercises until the simple lines, which were executed very quickly, provided the right starting point for creating an image. The characters provided by these means look, at times, like letters in an alphabet. As an artist one can create characters who act like dancers, but are capable of performing impossible acts as they can be re-shaped and distorted on the page.