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Painting and drawing has always been an important
part of my life. It is something that I did from an early
age; my mother tells me that I was drawing (ok, scribbling) before I could talk.
I was not overly fond of school, as I am dyslexic, and
academic subjects, particularly maths, were a trial.
Art classes were the highlight of the week.
The house where I grew up was in an isolated patch
of woodland, just outside a small town in Surrey, called
Haslemere. I loved that house, and the surrounding
countryside, which as a child I was fortunate enough to
roam at will. My parents were indulgent in allowing my
brothers and myself a large menagerie of animals:
apart from the usual dogs and cats, there were also a
series of foundlings from the woods, such as a fox, various ferrets, rabbits, birds
and reptiles. Despite many years living in London,
my love of nature and animals has always stayed with me.
At 16, I enrolled on a foundation course at the local art school, at that time known
as West Surrey college of Art and Design (formerly Farnham Art School). I loved it,
art every day, after regular school it was paradise. I even came to enjoy the academic
side, though it was never my strong suit. At that time the life room was out of favour;
performance and conceptual art was the new and exiting thing. My choice to stay at
Farnham to do my degree was partly because they still had a very strong life drawing
practice, which had all but vanished in many other art schools. Nevertheless during my
time there I still dallied with install ation and performance as well as the more traditional
stuff. It was a real period of discovery for me.
After graduating, I was awarded a travel scholarship, and studied painting for a
further year in the
Beaux Arts in Aix en Provence. As I did not speak French when I first arrived, it was as
much about
learning a language as anything. It was a great experience, and one cannot help but be
inspired when
surrounded with so much beauty, and art history. There are what we think
of as the giants of twentieth
century art, who were all drawn to the south of France at some point in their lives,
and there are partsof the landscape there which are a constant reminder of that.
I returned to England and decided that London was the place to be,
but my student days were
over and I had to come to terms with making a living! One of the first jobs I had was assistant
at the Riverside studios gallery (much larger than, and with a good programme of contemporary
work). As well as the usual gallery duties, it involved liaison with local schools, putting on talks,
etc. I enjoyed the work, but it was demanding, left little time for creativity, and was shockingly
badly paid. But it gave me experience in working in the art world and putting on exhibitions.
I have had a series of jobs involved around the peripheries of art,
such as picture
framing, design, teaching, behind the scenes on low budget films and decorative arts,
in fact I have spent many years on and off working in the decorative arts field,
alongside doing my own work.
This has been quite instructive for me as I have learned various processes and techniques
which I have at times applied to my own work such as gilding and verre egolamise.
A few years ago I decided to start doing pet portraits, Why not put two
things I love together, animals and painting. A big departure from my
previous work, but it felt like the right thing to be doing.
I find working
as a commissioned artist deeply rewarding, and I enjoy the contact
with people and their pets. Working in such a strongly figurative style
has had an impact on my personal work, and I find myself discovering
all sorts of different avenues, previously unexplored. creating hybrids
between the different styles of work.
Currently I am living in North London, close to Hampstead Heath,
where I can grab a bit of fresh air,
and do a bit of dog-spotting at the same time - catching up on what the latest fashionable
breed is.
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