Technique
I keep my painting technique quite close to my chest. This not only protects the significant investment of time and money I have made in my art, but also protects all the people who choose to invest and collect my art around the world. I would like to keep my style unique.
The quote by Picasso is very true and I admit to being somewhat guilty of it also. He said “good (or bad) artists copy, great artists steal”. In todays society and technology its hard not to be influenced by other artists work, just as we are with the media , both published and social. There are many great artists out there producing astounding work, many of which are completely unrecognized for their talent.
I remember when my work was first launched by my publisher, I discovered within days my work began to appear on Chinese art gallery websites with “coming soon” banners. Fortunately, nothing more has materialised, so hopefully they haven’t managed to replicate my work, although it’s a good test of the uniqueness of my art. So success there !
Paint
What I can say is that I use acrylic paint, 
loads of it at considerable expense.
Trying to source the right type meant buying lots of different brands and testing, testing, testing. When you’ve spent £100 on paint for all of it to end up in the bin, along with the canvas or board its quite demoralizing to be honest, especially when you do the same over and over again. Isn’t that a sign of madness ?
I‘ve dealt with the R&D departments of many paint manufacturers, including Daler Rowney, Liquitex, and Winsor & Newton, to get a better understanding of the pigments and binder. Sometimes they couldn’t provide the answers I needed. There were so many variables to deal with. One thing I found was that each colour actually behaves in different ways and it took many trials to get the balance of viscocity and flow I was looking for. I also looked at liquid density and various ways of measuring, some very technical and some really basic methods.
I also discovered my paint would go ‘off’ after time, a bit like a use by date, so investigated better mixing and storage options for paints.
Resin
I’d noticed resin work and was attracted to it for its high gloss almost glass like finish. I experimented with both polyester and epoxy formulas. I also looked at the greener more eco friendly options with resin made from plants, but that optical clarity was not good. Poleyster is also a very toxic substance to work with so I eventually found a supplier for a safer epoxy resin which also contained UV inhibitors to protect the artwork from sunlight, and provide the consistency I required for my artwork.
Resin is probably the most expensive material part of my artwork, apart from the double framing. There are at least 2 coats applied and an average of 1 litre being used, this is a significant cost of the artwork. Also, a lot can go wrong with resin as it’s a two part mixture, so needs to be mixed accurately to avoid any uncured or streaky areas. Some days with all the chemicals I use, my studio is like a scene out of Breaking Bad.
Environment
I started working out of a bedroom in the 
beginning, but soon realized I needed the right environment working with various chemicals and resin. A clean environment is essential and dust/creatures can be your enemy. So I made a significant investment and built a studio with the correct environment needed including lighting, ventilation units, dust protection, heating, humidity controls, tools etc.
My 3D nature elements, butterflies, dragonflies etc, took lots of development work and investment in further equipment. Each design has gone through numerous iterations of different looks and styles to finally settle on what I have today. Each one is hand painted and formed to create the 3D style
All my art pieces are painted on board. I needed a flat surface to work on and canvas panels, although easy to buy, did not offer the support I required. The wood does make the artwork heavier, but I feel this also adds a quality feel to the final product.