‘I make my own watercolour paints from materials that I find along the Northumberland coastline, such as sea coal, yellow ochre, grey shale, red brick and sand.

I collect small samples of materials that have fallen away from the cliffs, and special which is particularly abundant on the shoreline after storms – washed out from a seam in the North Sea. I also source pieces of brick, dumped at the top of Alnmouth Beach to protect the coastline. I grind these materials down to a powder and mix with a homemade binding agent.

In this current work, I explore the defensive nature of our coastline, focusing on the effects of climate change – coastal erosion was particularly evident this winter following storms such as Arwen. I depict the small man-made structures that line the coast, built with the aim of withstanding the powerful natural elements.. in a time of dire warnings of climate disaster.’