On my recent visit to Beijing I bought some rice paper, Chinese brushes of all sizes, ink and watercolours. I am experimenting with these to combine some elements of fluidity and different kinds of brushstrokes within my current interest in landscape rendered as a poem. I have always loved the life inherent in brushstrokes and finding ways to make suggestions of places and experiences. I want the image to suggest a possible place but it is most important that it should be about the life of the painted mark - and the thoughts it can carry - and I also want to explore compositional possibilities. Working with black ink has opened up new compositional possibilities and I like the idea that the imagery should look as if it just fell on the paper, like the flow of water or a shower of leaves.

These paintings are inspired by China. In particular the memories of the journey to the Great Wall of China kept informing my imagery, though this was only a starting point as I let shapes and lines emerge according to the needs of my intuition and the voice of the paper.

As a child I made many copies of Chinese watercolour paintings from books and what interested me back then was the economy of the brushstrokes and the life they gave to the paper. This excitement has never left my work, and I was very influenced by Chinese lettering when I was in Beijing and thinking of ways to incorporate these shapes into my ink paintings.

IN AUGUST, I will be doing a month's painting residency at The Schoolhouse in Mutianyu, right next to the Great Wall, so I will have a lot of time to explore my initial ideas from last year. This residency was by invitation and my accommodation, studio and expenses will be provided by the host organisation.