If you watch the opening and closing credit sequences of the BBC soap opera ‘EastEnders’ you might notice a small, tightly meandering river that flows into the River Thames. This tributary is the River Lea and, unlike the Thames (with its grand architectural backdrops and visual splendour), it flows through relatively unassuming and unfashionable landscapes in north east London including old industrial sites, urban edge-lands, residential estates and green spaces populated with electrical transmission towers which, for me makes for perfect backlands landscape painting.

A roads, dual carriageways and motorways are ubiquitous across our landscape... a necessity for getting from area to area. They are places between places, a no-mans land where countless journeys are made each day. At first glance they appear functional in fashion and devoid of charm. It is the combination of these things - the basic human need to get from A to B and the artificial physicality of the highway itself - that I find captivating as a subject for painting. 

Commissions often provide an opportunity for me to create something different, such as an unusual theme, location or viewpoint. One project, in particular, presented me a challenge of producing four paintings, overlooking a large pond in Kew Green, south east London, with each piece depicting the same view but during a different season.

Many of my paintings over the years have been inspired by the golden aura of low-pressure sodium street lamps. Artificial lighting such as this has always held a fascination for me and it illuminates the darkness in unusual ways.

Plein air painting can be an adventure, especially when weather conditions add challenges and excitement. There is, however, the odd occasion when the elements decide to take over, like the night I painted St Paul’s Cathedral in the wind and rain.