I
am an artist working in London, and the South of France. I studied Fine Art at Hull College of Art in the early seventies, when Hull was at the forefront of the Art Language conceptual movement. My artistic career has taken me in various different directions; I have worked as an art therapist, in reprographics for the Civil Service and as a photographic printer. Finally I forged a successful career as a freelance illustrator, with clients that included Sainsbury’s, Bloomsbury, the Guardian and the Telegraph. I now split my time between London and Montcuq in the South of France, where there is a lively creative community.
My work attempts to capture the freshness of a Renaissance mural, the intimacy of a Dutch interior and the mood of a surrealist work – a fusion of Masaccio, De Hooch and Giorgio De Chirico. Working as an exhibition printer taught me the importance of composition, contrasting tone and detail. In fact, I believe I have learned as much from photographs as from paintings. I love the work of the great cartoonists like Milton Caniff and Will Eisner who I regard as great draughtsmen. I was enthralled at a young age by Mad magazine and devoured both British and American comics, and still admire the crispness and artistry of New Yorker cartoons.