Biography

A little about the artist

Having spent what seems a lifetime in marketing and advertising, I've decided to forgo the daily commute to develop what friends have said is a much under-utilised talent.

I was born in 1959 to a family of farmers on the Scarisbrick Hall estate in Lancashire. My earliest recollections were of playing catch-up with my parents as they raced to bring in harvest on a balmy summers evening - rabbits scuttled into hedgerows and startled pheasants exploded across the sky.

It was this introduction to the countryside that looked set to define my life. But my prospects in the farming community were curtailed, when I started to exhibit a little artistic ability at school. I was then promptly packed off to Blackpool & Fylde Art College to train as a technical illustrator - a practical vocation for practical northerners.

Whilst the course was predominantly about producing illustrators for the aero-space industry, the college also had its eye on other career paths for its students, and introduced an afternoon of scientific illustration to the course content.

David Johnston was the lecturer in charge. He would always arrive in class with a board of stretched paper under his arm and demonstrate skills far beyond those of his students. We would watch in awe as he built up layers of watercolor and gouache to create breathtaking wildlife pictures that 'Archibald Thorburn' would proudly have claimed his own.

My love of nature meant I was completely dazzled and I worked hard to develop a modicum of his talent. The 'Peregrine falcon' below was my very first painting and led to me having further pictures exhibited at 'Martin Mere' shortly after it opened.

Unfortunately, at the end of the course, 'Mr. Practical' took over and I sought out employment and a pay packet in an industrial studio in London. It was here that a little creative talent and initiative started to lead me away from a life of Illustration towards a career in Marketing & Communication Management.

And it's only now. 20 years on, that I've eventually decided to forgo the pleasures of the daily commute to relearn those long lost skills. As you browse through the galleries I hope you will judge it a wise decision and provide the encouragement I need to turn a passionate interest into a vocation.

Approaching painting

I have heard it said that there is little point in being an artist in the modern world when a camera captures in a millisecond everything that an artist might take hours to do.

But artists are not held hostage to fortune in quite the same way. Whilst photographers must rely on patience and chance, the artist can be far more flexible in his or her approach.

Wildlife by its nature. is wild. It refuses to stand still or frame itself carefully in the environment. And it is this that makes wildlife art unique. The artist not only retains control of the elements and composition but also harnesses the fluidity and texture of the medium in which he works.

It is this logic that drives my approach. Working primarily from life, I will frequently haul lumps of wood and fauna home to my study - often to my wife's displeasure. When the subject matter can not be removed from its landscape, I will either take reference shots on my digital camera or make supplementary sketches.

In my mind's eye I would already have assembled the final picture - the sky, the background, the subject. If I feel anything is missing, I will continue my search in the fields around my home. When I feel confident that I have what I need, I will outline the composition on stretched paper and mask key areas. Only then will I begin to build the picture up in layers of watercolor, allowing the water to blend and create shapes on the paper.

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