RH. What was the last art book you read from cover to cover?

KS. 'If Paintings Could Talk'. A National Gallery publication full of great little anecdotes and potted histories of lots of the best known paintings in the National Gallery, London. One story was about the Rembrandt portrait …… When all the paintings were kept under the Welsh hills to protect them from harm in the second world war, the National decided to put just one painting on exhibition at a time, that one being the Rembrandt. More people came to see just one painting in war time than came to see the entire collection in peace time. In times of stress, art re-affirms itself as a human necessity.

Has there been a book or a painting that has changed the way you paint?

'The Symbolic Life Of Vincent Van Gogh'. A pair of shoes isn't just a pair of shoes, it's a comment on the relationship between two brothers. A chair isn't just a chair, it's a self portrait and a wilting branch? The expression of a life of loneliness. This book taught me many years ago how even the simplest images can have a depth and a language just waiting to be discovered.

Do you have any painting rituals?

I probably spend as much time just sitting and looking at my paintings as I do painting them. I like to have voices in the room when I'm working so a film or an audio book is always playing. Other than that I have no particular rituals unless a constant flow of coffee counts.

When you are in a gallery\museum what art makes you bored?

Minimalism. It makes me wonder where the coffee shop might be.

What in life gives you inspiration?

Frustration mostly. Being in a bad mood about something/somebody. Love of something/ somebody. All of life's emotions.