Originally from the north of England, I was born near Liverpool though grew up in the small country town of Sedbergh on the fringe of the lake district. During my teenage years I was taught to paint watercolours by a local artist Monte Christopherson, these lessons planted the seed of creativity deeply and I continued to practise until my late teens.
At 18 years of age I joined the Royal navy and served as a chef for 5 and a half years, I painted only very occasionally during this period due to the lack of time and practicality of creating art on a ship, though the yearning to paint always remained. Upon leaving the navy I worked for the Royal mail for a while and began to paint more in my spare time.
In the early 2000’s during an over night camping trip to the ancient Wistmans wood on Dartmoor I picked up a piece of deadfall wood and took it home, I ended up carving it into an abstract portrayal of a wizards hand holding a wand and set into a wedge of Dartmoor granite, inspired of course by the local myths and legends about this ancient woodland, this was only a small sculpture but it was the beginning of a decade long journey into the realms of abstract sculpting.
During this time I first considered becoming a working artist and I began to move towards that goal by creating a body of work over the next few years so I would have enough for exhibition. the first of which was in 2007 at the Flameworks Christmas exhibition in the Royal William yard in Plymouth. By 2010 I felt I had fully explored sculpting and was beginning to feel a strong desire to paint again, though I wanted to experiment with a medium other than watercolours . Pure graphite was my choice and I created a small body of work using liquified pure graphite sticks using similar application techniques used in watercolours. the natural progression led me to experiment with colour tinted graphite’s & another body of work was created.
Around 2012 I was given a set of acrylics and began to paint with them, I was instantly captivated and have created a large body of acrylic paintings in the years since and I continues to experiment and develop my own style, detailed and vibrant paintings, many inspired by the beautiful scenery of Devon.
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In 2014 I was “Artist in residence” at the Mayflower arts gallery in the historic Barbican area of Plymouth for some time where I painted in the gallery for the public. I have exhibited and sold work in numerous exhibitions & galleries in Plymouth, Tavistock Yealmpton, and across the country & internationally online.
Every painting I create is a journey of discovery in itself where I try to understand how the visual world around me can be described through art. My artwork is meticulously created using the finest pigments, surfaces and varnishes to bring you a beautiful and meaningful high quality work of art for your home that will hopefully stand the test of time bringing many years of viewing pleasure.
Examples of my sculptural artwork
Besides a completed commission piece
Painting at Mayflower arts gallery