My new work has quite unexpectedly fused two themes I have explored in the past:  landscape and terrorism. Having produced, in 2002, images of 9/11, I then moved on to explore more elegiac English themes in 2004. The events of 7 July 2005 in London were particularly significant for me, as my studio is in Tavistock Square where the bus exploded. This happened right across from my window; I heard the blast and witnessed the scene and its aftermath.

I have always loved the trees in London, especially the mature ones in the parks, squares and gardens. My studio windows overlook a mass of leafy green. After the bombings the whole of the square and surrounding streets became a cordoned-off zone with police guarding the edges. There was an eerie silence for 10 days: no cars, no people, no birds - just forensic teams doing their grim work.

This is the basis of the new paintings: a tranquil park at the height of summer devastated by senseless violence. All the grass and trees were covered in bright blue tarpaulin sheets and little flags were placed where they had found human remains. These new works are about loss, reflection and silence.

Now one year on, the square is again full of sunbathers, oblivious to all the sadness and horror that I had seen from my studio.

Thank you to Patti Smith for her album title 'Peace and Noise'

Click on an image to scroll through the gallery