I am a self-taught artist who could draw and paint a bit at school, but for nearly 40 years I hadn't picked up a paint brush other than to decorate our home. Born in Sunderland, lived in the North East for half of my life and the East Riding of Yorkshire for the other half. I worked as a Chartered Surveyor in Local Government, retiring from my last job in the beautiful City of York.
Retirement in 2010 has allowed me to invest myself in the many interests I have. Art is a major part of my life now. It started with the support of local professional portrait artist Jan Jones (Mallyart) who ran a group in the neighbouring village of Seaton Ross here in the East Riding of Yorkshire, aptly named the Roundabout 1079 Artists.
I started with watercolours, only because they were easier to transport to and from the group meetings. It was harder than expected, as I am sure many of you appreciate, and it took some considerable time to develop a style I was happy with. Having said that, watercolours now take a back seat to acrylics. Previously, I had only tried oils and again it took a while to appreciate and develop the techniques for blending and layering to get the best out of acrylics.
The next stage in my development has been to successfully loosen-up my style by using the palette knife. After attending one of Heather Burton's workshops I have certainly enjoyed the challenge of both landscape and portraiture using and developing palette knife techniques.
I now feel that I can meet most challenges and commissions that face me and select the most appropriate medium, style and technique, brush or palette knife for a particular project.
I have had work selected for both the Beverley Open Art Exhibition 2016 and 2018, and the prestigious Ferens Open Art Exhibition 2017 and 2019
I am by no means the complete artist, there is still much to learn and develop and I am continually inspired by those around me.