The thing is, when I am painting or making stuff I am usually smiling. It makes me happy.

And so, when I am not being a freelance classical musician, or teaching children to play the piano, I try to paint as much as possible.

I’ve always been fascinated by the beauty, atmosphere and sheer design daring present in many historic interiors. I can often be found poring over books on old houses, and on the great designer-decorators of the past. I find expression for this passion by constructing and decorating miniature rooms, creating new designs inspired by the famous or interesting rooms I have read about.

I also paint landscapes, decorative panels, greetings cards and make small decorative items, which I sometimes sell at craft fairs, or give to friends. My most popular items are quirky miniature dollshouses, designed to sit on a bookshelf or a side table.

A couple of years ago I started putting photos of my work on flickr and through this my pictures are regularly featured by others on blogs, as well as pinterest and tumblr. My flickr ‘photostream’ has now had over 700,000 views. These online connections led a shop commission (for ‘Sauce gifts’, Dubai), and several private commissions from the UK and USA. I am currently developing ideas for jewellery and stationery boxes, and am renovating a large old dollshouse.

If you would like to commission a “Shelf house” or decorative artwork I would be delighted to hear from you! What would really excite me would be the chance to collaborate with other creative people, perhaps as part of a shop window display, or an animated film project, or a mixed media artwork (remember too that I am a musician, if that helps!).

Or, if you just think we have some things in common and fancy a chat that would also be completely wonderful.