My work explores a visual vocabulary of pattern, shape and colour. Compositions are conceived by embracing spontaneous decision making within the constraints of pattern and optical illusion. By using colour and tone to distort the way the eye perceives shadows or movement, the works are left to the chance encounters of elements interacting with each other on the canvas, allowing the composition to grow and respond according to the visual circumstances. The labour and repetition required to render the patterns reflect the controlled nature of the painting process. As a result the works refer to each other as one informs the next.