Want to know a little more about me?
My Creative History
I’ve been a in creative industry for 25 years. After studying art and design at college and university I was employed as a Graphic Designer for several years before going freelance. Alongside my design work I also drew and painted, specialising in portraiture.
As the interest in my artwork grew I took on less design work and was able to concentrate more time on portraits. Inspired by cultural icons from music and film I created a host acrylic portraits in a distinctive Pop Art style. My first solo art exhibition, (entitled About Face), took place in 2005 at Amoeba Gallery in Clifton, Bristol and was a great success. This inspired me to create my own travelling art gallery which I named Cut the Mustard.
For the next 13 years I spent the autumn and winter painting portraits and took Cut the Mustard on the road in the spring and summer selling the paintings at music festivals. This included Glastonbury, Isle of Wight, VFest, Reading Festival and many more. I was also commissioned to produce lots of private portraits during this period.
Unfortunately a persistent back problem prevented me from carrying on working in that way in 2017 - selling art at festivals was great fun but seriously hard work and tough on the body! So at that point I decided to explore new subjects and mediums in my artwork. Inspired by my surroundings I began producing ink drawings of Clevedon, (the picturesque seaside where I live), and develop a new style in my portraiture.
The new work was very well received and I continued to progress and define my unique style and subject matter to a point where my work is very individually recognisable. I sell my work at several galleries and shops as well as my website.
My Current Work
Inspiration comes in many forms but I have always been drawn to people, places and nature. Sometimes I combine all three! I draw influence from varied sources, as inspiration truly is all around us, but my current art style is shaped by environments and contours, subculture, expression and style, (and splash of humour can also be found in some of my pieces)!
Alongside the artwork I produce for general release I also do lots of private commissions and am often working variety of commercial illustration projects.
Another area of creativity I am currently involved in is producing illustrations for children’s books. I have always loved designing funny little characters in my sketchbooks but these characters are now leaping from those sketchbooks into the hands of publishers! Having previously worked alone it is refreshing and interesting working with authors and their wonderful ideas. Look out for my artwork on the shelves of Waterstone’s soon!
There are also fellow creatives that I find extremely inspirational and these include M.C. Escher, William Hogarth, Brian Bolland, Eric Fischl, Mode2, Charles Griffin, Rodney Matthews and Barney Farmer - to name but a few of many more!
My work is hand drawn. I sometimes colour with ink and sometimes I scan my drawings and colour them in Photoshop using a digital drawing pad and pen.