I am an ex-firefighter from Derbyshire, UK. I was born and raised in Shirebrook, a large mining village in the Derbyshire coalfields at a time when mining was the backbone of the community. Growing up in such a traditional community meant I never really considered art as a feasible career. But even so art has always been my private passion.
I graduated in Economics from the University of Birmingham in 1976 but, after a brief spell in finance, I opted for a complete change and joined the UK fire and rescue service. I never really stopped painting completely but I only turned to art fully after my retirement from the Service in 2008. Only then, having already brought up a family and completed one demanding career, could I find the time I needed to devote to it - painting can be a draining experience.
About my art:
I paint largely in oil and acrylic and I have never been taught formally, my art is instinctive and so what’s inside is what you get - unfiltered. After much experimentation I now follow a more figurative style. My practice is a personal response to various “triggers” in the world around me; in current affairs, in my physical surroundings and even in the written word.
I love the unexpected or the effect on my subconscious of events outside my control. I never know if, or how, or why these experiences often generate a response through my work but I am interested in the linkages present through such influences and the traces they leave through the narratives that are often there in my art.
A natural curiosity about how we see what we see informs what I do and my eye naturally seeks out the lyrical in the everyday. I am moved & inspired by the tensions in contrast (whether that’s contrasts of light, of colour or of texture) and the effects this has on seeing physical form. During the painting process I am often preoccupied by boundaries, edges and the ends and beginnings of things –and in those, sometimes fleeting, visual phenomena that define and demarcate what we see. In this way I try to explore the possibilities of representation and visualization, often of the apparently mundane and everyday.
Whatever the genre the same foundations are apparent in all my work but it is probably in my still life that it is most obvious. My still life work generally uses everyday objects and, by intense observation and exacting mark-making, I try to raise them up into forms of “beauty” in their own right. I suppose it’s a kind of realism, but not slavishly copying. Essentially I explore objects in order to enhance what’s already there, hidden in plain sight but often overlooked; maybe surrealism in the original sense of the word is a better description.
In terms of preparation I know from experience that my instincts have to predominate to produce my best work, so I try to disconnect from any active thoughts and paint from the heart. The painting process itself has evolved over time. I do not like facing a blank canvas and will splatter it with leftover paint from previous work before I start. I always begin with a rough sketched outline either in thinned acrylic or charcoal and build the work up in stages, a kind of glazing process. I rarely “get it right in one” but rather prefer to feel my way towards what I’m wanting to achieve. I aspire to mark-make with one or two touches only. But I’m always aware of the dangers of overworking and I nurture the self-discipline to know when to stop.
Artist’s statement
At its best I believe art can and should be an uncomplicated and joyful experience as well as a vehicle for asking more difficult & fundamental questions about what it means to be human.”
I hope you enjoy my work and return often to see how it develops. In the meantime you can often see examples of my work at the following galleries;
Leabrooks Arts Complex, Somercotes, Derbys
Courtney Gallery , Ashbourne, Derbys
Salon Contemporary Arts, Derby
*review of my art by Showcasemyart 2025, follow the link: