I am British. I come from Wolverhampton and I grew up in the 1960s. The 'Black Country' was still a pretty thriving industrial area when I was a child. I remember visiting local art galleries in Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Stafford with my mum and being overwhelmed by all that stuff that came by way of Empire, but particularly the Pre-Raphaelite paintings and I was hooked on the idea of making art. At school drawing and making things was always something that I did.

 

I went on to study art and design at art colleges and worked as a freelance artist and designer for several years before entering the teaching profession. During this time I learned a lot and had to develop both confidence and skills to take on many different types of work. Painting, designing textiles and designing and making stage costumes for 'Slade' became a big part of my creative time after I left college. You can see some of that early design work and more recent skateboard designs later in this site.

 

For over 40 years I was a full-time teacher of visual art, teaching secondary school students in the UK, Dubai, Stockholm, Istanbul, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and China. Throughout my time teaching, I always painted and enjoyed working in theatre design. I simply enjoy creating, designing and making things. Whilst teaching art has given me so many wonderful memories of people and places I retired last year to spend my time on my passion: painting. Teachers often expound the virtues of lifelong learning and taking risks. Well, that is just what I have done giving up teaching to paint.

 

I have always produced my own art and exhibited frequently, but now it has become my full-time job and I hope to grow as an artist and gather an audience of people who see my work and wish to share with me their enjoyment of it.

 

 

My work is mainly oil colour on canvas and most of my paintings are quite large. The subject matter is often based upon the landscape, although I produce a diverse range of subjects and styles. Figurative, abstract, portraiture and design work are all themes that I undertake, depending upon my current interest, commission or stimulus.

 

Wherever I have lived I have painted aspects of the locality and utilised the cultural context as much as possible in order to bring my own slant to things. I like to think that I have developed my own individualistic approach to composition and the use of colour. My work is what you see. Often I think artists, critics and curators talk about the conceptual meaning that a work intends to convey. Sometimes I feel let down upon viewing when the images do not match up to the words. With this in mind, I like a quote that is often attributed to Frank Zappa of 'Mothers of Invention,' the 1970's rock band, who purportedly said: "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture." For me, a work of art should speak for itself through the inherent qualities of the art form.

 

I hope that you enjoy viewing this selection of my work that includes both recent and past work, paintings, drawings and design work.