About me

My interests are predominantly related to the landscape (but also enjoy the challenges of life drawing). Not necessarily the grand vista, but much more often, small moments, the transient, the often passed over. I often start with direct observation and sometimes the work reflects a composition that is consistent with what one might find in a photograph. a number of the pencil drawing here are of this nature.

As ideas are explored then different possibilities arise and the work may become more abstract. For instance, a work might contain elements observed on a walk - collected and arranged - having picked out fragments that particularly caught my attention. Sometimes the content might include elements that were not observable, that maybe represent my feelings in response the the environment, or the words of passersby heard whilst sketching. A current project is based on a poem found engraved on the rocks in the Bay of Sannick near John O’Groats. Sometimes, fragments of collage are included, maybe bits of maps or writings about the landscape. Landscape is often the result of erosion and change; the creation of a work can often use methods that reflect these these processes.

In this way, the work can become very different from a single viewpoint image and therefore is another way of how we experience the world.

I have practiced painting and drawing for over 50 years starting in earnest when I went to Hornsey College of Art. Following this I attended an environmental design course at Bournemouth College of Art. Following this I exhibited at the Young Contemporaries at the Royal Academy. I met David Hockney and he gave me a little book of his Grimms Fairy Tales.

Over the last few years I have exhibited in various galleries including North Land Creative, regularly at the Northlight Gallery in Stromness, as well as different exhibitions in Thurso.

In 2015 I won the Great North Art Show prize for the “Most exceptional body of work in the show” in Ripon Cathedral.