‘Poet Portraits’ is a year-long project I embarked on in November 2005 to paint twenty poets with strong connections to Wales.

My list includes includes leading figures in contemporary Welsh literature in both languages, among them Wales' first National Poet Gwyneth Lewis, Dannie Abse, Twm Morys (whose portrait has been purchased by the National Library of Wales), Director of Academi Peter Finch, and editor of Poetry Wales, Robert Minhinnick. Rising stars Owen Sheers, Zoe Skoulding and Samantha Rhydderch have also been sought out, along with Hilary Llewellyn-Williams, Christopher Meredith, Paul Groves, Grahame Davies, Tony Curtis, Paul Henry, Pascale Petit, Tim Liardet, Patrick McGuinness, Meic Stephens, Christine Evans, and Catherine Fisher. 

I wanted Poet Portraits to be a snapshot of a particular time in Welsh literature. I deliberately included writers in both languages; men and women; the up-and-coming with the established; those who choose to work in Wales and those who have moved away.

The Exhibition opened at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff in December 2006, and is touring across Wales and beyond. It has recently returned from the Welsh Assembly Government Offices in Brussels and is at Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw from 16 March to 21 April.

An accompanying book, Poet Portraits | Portreadau Beirdd has been published by Seren. The book includes an essay by myself outlining the motives and impulses behind the project. Art critic and lecturer Dr Anne Price-Owen has written an Introduction which places my work in a wider context. The poets themselves have generously contributed a poem each to accompany their portrait. The book is available through bookshops or from the publisher's website http://www.seren-books.com/art/p/2036/