Like most people I love the moon. Sounds like an odd thing to say but it is reassuring to look into the sky and see it there even though it may not always be in a same place and of course we know it is there even when it is cloudy.

I think my love affair with the moon started during the moon landings and those amazing astronauts who made their steps on its dusty surface. But of course the most beautiful pictures were what the earth looked like from so far away.

My next big experience of the moon was on a visit to Germany, close to the then East German border where the air was crystal clear and I viewed the moon through a telescope. Breathtaking.

When I started painting seriously I found the moon crept into my pictures. When my children were small you could find my paintings on a stall at Chelsea Market. My paintings were for children and the moon made an entrance in most of them regardless of the subject and sometimes the moon itself was the subject.

Nowadays my paintings are influenced by medieval art, trees and Cambridge: but the moon is still there proudly part of my work.