Glimpses Series
This series exhibited in Leeds in 2005 focuses on land overtaken and reclaimed by nature.  Places wild and overgrown that were once manicured and cared for.  The bulk of the work focused on an inner city Victorian churchyard.  This long neglected place of death was so full of life, energy and nature that it seemed an interesting paradox.  Especially considering the litter and bizarre array of things long abandoned. Beyond its more moribund elements, the work is a tapestry of life, and I worked on the canvases for up to three years building layers of paint over and over, trying to capture all I saw in this unusual place.

Dunkirk to Dieppe Series
In 2002, I travelled to mainland Europe to explore.  I was fascinated by the impact of the Second World War on the continent.  I had seen the shrapnel damage on the side of the Tate Gallery in London whilst living there the year before, and the gunning posts on the Yorkshire coast as a child.  I was curious to see how many remnants of this era were still haunting other areas of Europe.  My great uncle was the war painter Richard Eurich (R.A.) who had painted the D-Day landings.  I visited the beaches he had painted and painted them as they appeared at that time.  The violent history now quiet. My family have always been pacifists and we are of German descent.  These paintings were more about the tension these areas hold due to their history rather than a sentimental view of the past.

Beyond September Series
On September 10th, 2001, I began a new series of work based on portraiture, although I think of them more as heads.  I wanted to paint a picture of a man reading a newspaper, his head emerging from the headlines as if from bedsheets.  The painting was never completed, the events of the next day meant the newspaper clippings I was collecting were filled with terror and conflict.  The heads I painted became more and more caricatured, the necks and ears growing longer.  I began to cut the newspapers and rearrange the headlines, gluing them around the heads that were lost in a sea of white paint.  The only naturalistic painting in the series was painted on the 12th, and features my friend Indy, with the muted TV ever-present in the background.  I abandoned the work for fear that it would be perceived as political.  It was the effect on the people that interested me, not the connotations of the war on terror.

Emotions Series
These early pieces were painted in response to how emotions feel rather than look.  Painted for the most part in one sitting, I aimed to convey as many emotions as I could and move the images away from portraiture as much as possible. 

Water Series
This early series of work included the first canvases I painted. I set out to depict water by trying to create the sound in the viewer's mind.  An accurate visual depiction was of no importance to me. The work slowly evolved into total abstraction.  Rapid is an early piece in the series.