HELD BY THE HILLS
Paintings about landscape, belonging and home
I live in the mountains above the Mawddach estuary in North Wales, surrounded by the landscape that has become such a big part of my life and my work.
These paintings grew from a feeling I found difficult to put into words.
That feeling of standing beneath a huge Welsh sky and feeling very small, but not insignificant.
Held.
By the hills.
By the landscape.
By a sense of belonging somewhere.
Held by the hills is a collection about those feelings.
About home, freedom, belonging and the places that shape us.
DAPPLED LIGHT
Oil on board
When I painted Dappled Light, I wasn’t trying to paint every leaf or every tree.
I wanted to paint that feeling.
That moment when the sunlight dances through the branches.
When the lane stretches out ahead of you.
When life slows down for a little while.
It’s funny how a place can become part of your story without you even realising.
This little lane certainly has for me.
I wanted to paint that feeling.
That moment when the sunlight dances through the branches.
When the lane stretches out ahead of you.
When life slows down for a little while.
It’s funny how a place can become part of your story without you even realising.
This little lane certainly has for me.
Available | £145
TYRRAU MAWR
Oil on board
I didn’t set out to paint a mountain. I wanted to paint what it feels like to live beneath one.
Tyrrau Mawr is a place I know well.
The scale of the mountains here is hard to put into words. Standing beneath them, you feel tiny. But rather than making you feel insignificant, I find it strangely comforting.
There’s something about being held within something so much bigger than yourself.
This painting is about that feeling of belonging to a landscape.
Of knowing a place so well that it becomes part of you.
Tyrrau Mawr is a place I know well.
The scale of the mountains here is hard to put into words. Standing beneath them, you feel tiny. But rather than making you feel insignificant, I find it strangely comforting.
There’s something about being held within something so much bigger than yourself.
This painting is about that feeling of belonging to a landscape.
Of knowing a place so well that it becomes part of you.
SOLD
GEFNIR
Oil on board
I've known these hills for a very long time.
As a child, I would walk up here, completely unaware that one day I'd come back and make my home among them.
There's something quite special about that. You can grow up somewhere, leave it behind, take a completely different path for a while, and somehow find yourself drawn back to the very landscapes that were part of your childhood.
I've chosen these hills, not simply because they're beautiful, but because they're a big part of my story. When I look at this landscape, I remember the feeling of being small beneath those huge mountains and open skies. Years later I look at the same hills from a very different place in my life.
Sometimes you don't realise the importance of a place until you have been away from it. And sometimes, somehow, you find your way home.
As a child, I would walk up here, completely unaware that one day I'd come back and make my home among them.
There's something quite special about that. You can grow up somewhere, leave it behind, take a completely different path for a while, and somehow find yourself drawn back to the very landscapes that were part of your childhood.
I've chosen these hills, not simply because they're beautiful, but because they're a big part of my story. When I look at this landscape, I remember the feeling of being small beneath those huge mountains and open skies. Years later I look at the same hills from a very different place in my life.
Sometimes you don't realise the importance of a place until you have been away from it. And sometimes, somehow, you find your way home.
Available | £145
PEACE
Oil on board
This is the view from outside my front door.
Honestly, how lucky am I?
I never get bored of looking at these hills. The light is constantly changing, sometimes dramatic and moody, and sometimes catching the landscape in a way that makes the whole place feel almost magical.
It's one of those views that reminds me to stop for a minute and actually look.
I wanted to capture some of that feeling when everything seems quiet, to slow down and you can just breathe. Living here has made me realise that peace doesn't always have to be something you go looking for. Sometimes it's right outside your door.
And I feel very lucky that mine is.
Honestly, how lucky am I?
I never get bored of looking at these hills. The light is constantly changing, sometimes dramatic and moody, and sometimes catching the landscape in a way that makes the whole place feel almost magical.
It's one of those views that reminds me to stop for a minute and actually look.
I wanted to capture some of that feeling when everything seems quiet, to slow down and you can just breathe. Living here has made me realise that peace doesn't always have to be something you go looking for. Sometimes it's right outside your door.
And I feel very lucky that mine is.
Available | £145
BEES ON MAGNOLIA
Oil on board
From huge looming mountains and open skies to the small creatures that make us stop for a moment and wonder at their busyness.
There's something about bees and flowers that makes me so happy and peaceful. I love watching them flitting from flower to flower, completely absorbed in what they're doing.
I wanted to capture the feeling of being drawn into this magical moment. The delicate colours of the magnolia, the flashes of colour and those busy bees going about their day.
It's a painting about noticing the small things, those that we often miss as we're hurtling past and rushing in the moment. I wanted this to be joyful and full of life, but peaceful. A little reminder that there is so much beauty in the everyday, if only we take the time to look.
There's something about bees and flowers that makes me so happy and peaceful. I love watching them flitting from flower to flower, completely absorbed in what they're doing.
I wanted to capture the feeling of being drawn into this magical moment. The delicate colours of the magnolia, the flashes of colour and those busy bees going about their day.
It's a painting about noticing the small things, those that we often miss as we're hurtling past and rushing in the moment. I wanted this to be joyful and full of life, but peaceful. A little reminder that there is so much beauty in the everyday, if only we take the time to look.
Available | £145
HOME
Oil on canvas
Home isn't a painting of a particular place.
It's a feeling.
I wanted to create the sense of being surrounded by vast, wild mountains and open landscape, with a tiny home nestled within it all.
Small, but not insignificant.
Held.
Safe.
There's something comforting to me about that contrast. The landscape is huge and powerful, but the little house feels protected within it. As though, despite everything that's going on outside, there is somewhere you can come back to and simply be. Somewhere you can breathe, feel grounded and let the rest of the world fall away for a while.
Home is about the quiet feeling of being exactly where you're meant to be.
It's a feeling.
I wanted to create the sense of being surrounded by vast, wild mountains and open landscape, with a tiny home nestled within it all.
Small, but not insignificant.
Held.
Safe.
There's something comforting to me about that contrast. The landscape is huge and powerful, but the little house feels protected within it. As though, despite everything that's going on outside, there is somewhere you can come back to and simply be. Somewhere you can breathe, feel grounded and let the rest of the world fall away for a while.
Home is about the quiet feeling of being exactly where you're meant to be.
Available | £227
HOPE & HOME
Oil on canvas
That's out home.
When Hefin and I met, he showed me this place. It was a ruin.
No floors.
No windows.
No roof.
No electricity. No water. No phone.
But somehow, we could see something in it.
Slowly, bit by bit, we turned it into a home.
It wasn't always easy. There were years of planning battles, rebuilding, uncertainty and a lot of hard work.
But we kept going.
I called this painting Hope & Home because that little house represents so much more than a building. It represents everything we put into it, everything we went through to make it ours, and everything that's still to come.
Off grid. Together.
Home.
When Hefin and I met, he showed me this place. It was a ruin.
No floors.
No windows.
No roof.
No electricity. No water. No phone.
But somehow, we could see something in it.
Slowly, bit by bit, we turned it into a home.
It wasn't always easy. There were years of planning battles, rebuilding, uncertainty and a lot of hard work.
But we kept going.
I called this painting Hope & Home because that little house represents so much more than a building. It represents everything we put into it, everything we went through to make it ours, and everything that's still to come.
Off grid. Together.
Home.
