ABOUT ME

A child of the 70's growing up in Newcastle Upon Tyne, I am proud to call myself a Geordie. It was a bit grim at times due to the weather, but I always felt safe and happy growing up on a council estate in Wallsend. Football and BMX kept me fit and active, but my real passion was always art. I didn't actually paint until I went to high school, as I was an avid pencil sketcher, a discipline that taught me so much for when I was ready for the world of colour.  My first set of oil paints was kindly given to me at 14 by a lady whose husband had passed away. I can still remember the smell of the linseed oil for the first time as I squeezed the paint from the tube. I was hooked, and from that day I have painted exclusively in oils. Of course I have tried other mediums but I just couldn't understand them in the way that traditional oil paint moved around a canvas. My first job was at 17, working in a photography studio where you could say I cut my teeth in the creative world. Every day, artwork from local designers would need photographing and printing, and I knew I could do that job one day. Now into my 4th decade as a published artist I have worked designing greetings cards, illustrations, and more recently, prints for galleries. My work has been published by Washington Green and Buckingham Fine Art and has been sold all around the world, and still to this day I get some lovely emails from people in places I have never heard of with stories of why they have my images. My love for music is at the heart of my artwork.  My passion for live music has never waned, even if my tastes have. I may not be in the mosh pit anymore, but I won't be too far away!