I'm a collector, artist and writer -- not always in that order. I also work as a publisher. I've been writing fiction lately as well as doing more design work. I'm represented by the literary agent Laura Macdougall at United Agents.

I love to investigate people and stories from the past, especially from the starting point of old photographs. You can find some of my photo investigations on my blog, Things To Make And Do. I'm also very active on Instagram as @foundandchosen, where you can see my little daily collections.

A lot of my art references the past too. I’m increasingly drawn towards realistic painting, although the reality I’m trying to reproduce may be a photograph or an old postcard.

I like postcards for the same reason that I like Google StreetView: they're real moments frozen in time. The best thing about postcards, for me, is the people who are caught on them, especially those who just happen to be there, captured rather than posing. I like to discover the tiny dramas hidden in postcards and have written and self-published a book of short stories inspired by them called Blow-Ups.

I have two main ways of working. I mostly either paint in acrylics on canvas or I work in oil pastel over large digital prints. I also love to do collage and recently I've been making digital prints as well.