As a collector of battered home furnishings and long-discarded ephemera, I find comfort in knowing the objects around me have been touched by many hands before my own. There’s something grounding about going to paint on a surface that already bears the thumb marks, pencil notations and careless creasings of an earlier custodian. Some of the work is already done for me, as if I am collaborating with obliging ghosts, reaching out from the past to lend each piece a characterfulness beyond my control.

I grew up immersed in art and nature. My father Guy Taplin sculpts birds and my mother Robina Jack is a ceramicist and painter. All three of us are influenced by the many adventures we embark on together.

I am represented by David Messum Fine Art in St. James’s. I have also exhibited at other galleries including Courcoux Contemporary in Salisbury, Gallery Nine in Bath, South Lookout in Aldeburgh and The Old Grocery in Wivenhoe. Available work can be viewed here. Follow me on Instagram for more insights into my process and inspiration.

Photo by Michael Branthwaite