These Koi Carp paintings have been inspired by Japanese paper making techniques and their methods of surface decoration. I particularly like their use of leaves, and gold and silver leaf in their papers. When I started making paper, my pulp was made from recycled cotton rag paper and went through a process of sizing so that it could be painted on eventually.

During my experimentation I found that leaf skeletons incorporated well into the paper at the pulp stage and that leaves with pronounced ribs would make clearly embossed reliefs on the paper's surface. These raised leaf shapes were later gilded as were the leaf skeletons.

As I became more practised in paper making, I developed a routine. I collected leaf skeletons in early spring when they were ready, then washed, dried and flattened them in preparation for gilding. I used leaves from a Chinese shrub for embossing as they have very pronounced ribs.

By this stage the paper was amassing as I made larger rectangular moulds and began to make circular paper using embroidery hoops stretched with gauze. However I still had not found a use for my paper.
It was then that I decided to introduce another process called 'Suminagashi' which is a form of Japanese marbling. With this process, black ink is dropped onto the surface of a water bath and alternated with a dispersant which creates a series of concentric grey rings. These can be gently fanned into patterns reminiscent of clouds or water. The paper is carefully laid onto the water's surface to pick up the resulting design before being flattened and dried.

When I looked at the flowing water patterns and gilded leaves on my collection of papers I was reminded of flotsam and jetsam in water and considered the idea of painting fish. Once more I looked to the Japanese culture for inspiration and was attracted by woodcuts of Koi Carp. These highly prized fish provide an infinite variety of pattern and colour variation for artists.

For my initial research I often visit ponds such as those in Kew Gardens, where I sketch and take photographs of my models. The composition of the paintings is largely influenced by the shapes left between the leaves and marbling already in place on the paper. I prefer painting on rectangular or circular shapes and like to pair rectangles in one composition.

I am now working on increasingly large circular paper which has made it necessary to use a small paddling pool outdoors for the marbling. The resulting Sumi pattern is created by the smallest breeze blowing across the surface of the water. I have very little control over this process, but I like the random element that it introduces into the work as I feel that it is in keeping with the traditions of Japanese paper making which was the source of my inspiration.