Women & Work
Reflection to a Calmer Time
Ramah, Artist, Oil on Canvas, 60x90cm, 2025
This painting depicts Ramah and forms part of an ongoing series in which I explore women’s relationships to work and the spaces that shape their practices. The piece reflects a shared period in our lives while we were completing our MA at Camberwell, working closely and collaboratively within our studio environment. It captures the intimacy, labour, and exchange that unfolded in those spaces, highlighting how our practices developed in dialogue with one another.
I removed an old painting I completed during my Masters from its stretcher and re-stretched it with new cotton duck canvas: 390gsm, 12oz. I only primed the canvas once with gesso, which made the surface feel toothy and textured. I normally prime with lots of layers and sand in-between for a smooth finish, but for this painting I wanted to play with staining and thinning the oil paint.
I began with Yellow Ochre, creating a sketchy outline of Ramah and the space she was within. I heavily thinned my paint with Zest-it and blocked out sections of Ramah’s green jacket and her blue painting in the background. Creating translucent layers that allowed me to stain and blend colours. Once I’ve moved around the canvas with these diluted colours, most of the surface has a thin transparent layer. I wait for this under layer to dry, then glaze again over the top, often using very diluted paint mixed in a Gü glass pot.
In areas such as Ramah’s coat, you can still see the first transparent layer. In others, I add further glazes, sometimes layering three or four. I wanted accidental colour mixing from the diluted Zest-it to remain visible. For Ramah’s face and hands, I work more impasto, applying thicker paint and leaving gestural strokes visible while blending others. I want moments of unfinishedness to remain
Left on Read
'Left on Read' - 珺楠 (Jenna), 60 × 90 cm, Oil on Canvas, 2026
This painting is part of my Women & Work series and I started painting Jenna after my painting of Ramah, and the work was born out of a nostalgia for our MA. However, as I continued painting and reflecting on why I was depicting these women in their workspaces, I realised I had been thinking more deeply about the spaces women work in, and how women balance creativity with rigorous schedules, ghosting, heartbreak, constant distractions from the digital world and domestic obligations.
I have always been fascinated by how other women artists live their lives and juggle their artistic practice alongside a second job, family, and friends. Some of my favourite books are written by female artists who reflect on how they have lived their lives, such as Self-Portrait by Celia Paul and With Darkness Came Stars by Audrey Flack. These books act as a blueprint for how women artists before me have navigated their practice alongside their lives.
While painting Jenna, I read Daily Rituals: Women at Work by Mason Currey. This book explores the daily habits, creative routines, and struggles of 143 female artists, writers, and thinkers. Understanding the creative journeys and rituals of other artists provides me with insight into my own practice.
My painting of Jenna is titled Left on Read and comes from a conversation we had at the Station Tavern pub in Cambridge after work. Jenna showed me her new paintings, which had a thick, glossy, colourful, joyous energy, reflective of her recent mood. However, it transcribed more recently she had been “left on read” demonstrating a lack of prioritizing from the significant recipient she had been messaging and whom had inspired the change of pallet within her work.
If interested please follow the links below to my website to see more painting from my women & work series and to my Instagram for the process of how I crated this painting of Jenna.
Link to process of painting: https://lnkd.in/ep5dgvF2
Link to Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7424738897349398528/
Computer Operator
Computer Operator, 2025, oil on board, 60 x 85cm
Through painting, past herstories, and recreating objects my Nanna Ann would have felt and touched, I have been exploring a combination of personal family archives alongside those of the Huntley & Palmers biscuit factory in Huyton, Liverpool. My focus is on my Nanna, Ann Hennigan, who worked on the conveyor belt at the factory during the 1960s–70s. I’ve been told she would joke that she was a “Computer Operator.” She worked the evening shift, 6–10pm—a pattern common among women at the time. Huntley & Palmers offered flexible shifts that allowed workers, especially women, to balance employment with school and family responsibilities. The company often favoured married couples and families, which provided women with a sense of independence, while also making it harder for entire families to take strike action.
My research offers insight into women’s experiences of labour and uncovers both personal and collective narratives of work, resilience, and identity. Through this, I aim to honour overlooked herstories and reimagine personal and industrial memory.
Annabel
Annabel And The Youngers, Oil On Canvas, 100x100cm
‘Annabel and the Younger’s’ was inspired by Artemisia Gentileschi’s Susanna and the Elders and reflects a period in which Annabel and I worked together as art teachers. We commuted by train, and both experienced sexual harassment while waiting alone at night. I painted Annabel seated on the same station bench where she was harassed, but in daylight, to contrast our distress with resilience. Her clenched fist and bicycle act as barriers, signalling guarded strength. Annabel feels like home she is one of my closest friends and greatest supports. Despite stress, she brings joy and calm. This painting honours both her presence, our friendship and our shared experiences.
Fatten
Mrs. Mohamad, Mathematician, Oil on Canvas, 100x120cm