Originally from Yorkshire and now living in Nottinghamshire I trained as a teacher and taught art for 32 years in secondary schools. Much of my art work during this time revolved around the students and trying to teach them different media and styles to enhance their portfolios. I would often give a practical demonstration of a subject using a specific media and then complete the piece of work at a later stage. The drawing of animals occasionally came up but it was only when completing work as presents for relatives and friends that I was able to produce work that I wanted to produce for the sheer fun of it.

When retirement came, this allowed me the freedom to produce work that I always intended and animals were and are a large part of that work. My pen and ink drawings are detailed, always trying to capture the essence and personality of the animal. Essentially working from photographs I always tell clients that the better the photo the better the drawing. Satisfaction is guaranteed as I never let a piece of work leave me unless the recipient is totally happy with the final piece.

Recently I have built a small studio in the garden and can now complete oil paintings, being able to leave equipment out without worrying about any of our cats climbing up the easels!

I enjoy the challenges of producing pictures of animals especially when trying different media wether that be oil painting, pen and ink, pastel or coloured crayon.