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Born in Liverpool 1962
I have always had a passion for painting; I went straight
from Quarry Bank Secondary School to study an Art
Foundation Course at Liverpool Polytechnic, before
successfully applying to study a Fine Arts Degree at Central
School of Art and Design in London, graduating in 1984.
Central was a great education as it introduced me to
more abstract ideas as well as developing figurative
skills. Though a difficult process at times, they
encouraged experimentation and an expansion of my
horizons. The tutors were well established artists who
had a wealth of knowledge, skills and opinion.
After completing my Degree I continued to work and
develop my style as an artist, exhibiting in London, and
more recently in galleries throughout the UK.
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I have always been fascinated by the human form and the
use of light and shade upon it, to enhance the image, giving
it excitement and mood. I hope to convey some mystery,
even spirituality, in my work as well as the strength and
beauty of the body. Caravaggio, Klimt, J W Waterhouse,
Alma Tadema as well as Bacon are all artists that I admire
and study. Rothko interests me for mood and atmosphere.
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When starting a painting I have an image in my mind of
how I want it to be but after sketching the initial pose on
the canvas the image develops and takes on its own path.
I take my reference from many sources including models,
imagination and life all around me.
I work from dark to light, laying on dark brown or blue
washes as a ground, and build up from there whilst still
wet. I will work on a canvas for a few hours before leaving
it to dry. I work on 2 or 3 canvases in this way returning
to them with fresh eyes. I aim to achieve ‘tight’ realism
in parts of a painting whilst in other areas leaving it
loose and less defined. This is to escape the confines
that realism can impose and to be more expressive. The
underwater series give me a freedom from gravity that
enables a freedom of the body.
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My studio is in a converted warehouse in Wimbledon
where there is a community of over a hundred artists.
There is no set pattern to my day although I prefer to
arrive around 9am. I usually listen to music or maybe the
radio, and it is always good to chat with the other artists
as they pass my studio.
I paint for 3 or 4 hours and then take a break, some
lunch, a session at the gym or a walk on Wimbledon
Common with my dog Ted.
Afterwards I return to the studio and work on until the
evening. The day is often rounded off with a pint in the
pub with friends.
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