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Welcome to
my Web Site
I hope you enjoy looking
at my paintings and perhaps you will check out where my
work can be seen, I am happy to discuss commissions or
answer any questions relating to my work. The Sketchbook
/ Blog section provides me with a forum to show work in progress
and describe the stages from the initial sketches through
to the detailed drawing which forms the basis of my paintings.
Because of the amount of detail I include in my work; photography
is an important source of information and my photographic
sorties will feature in the blog. I welcome any comments
and feedback from visitors to my Sketchbook, just bear
in mind that in common with most artists I have a fragile
ego so please be gentle with me. |
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About Me
I was born in a small mining village
in Ayrshire. I grew up in Scotland at a time when parents
still allowed children to go off and wander in the surrounding
countryside, so I benefited from a 'free range' upbringing.
Pencil drawing was a great source of pleasure even then
and living opposite a farm meant there was no lack of subject
matter. At school my art teachers provided great encouragement
and I hoped to find a way of earning a living from the
only real talent I seemed to possess.
At the age of sixteen I moved with my
family to Yorkshire and while looking for work was offered
a job in Printing. This lasted for eleven years when my
desire to paint full time caused me to turn my back on
my job in printing and with my wife; move to the Orkney
Islands where I worked as a freelance illustrator. The
work was enjoyable but not very well paid, reluctantly
we made the decision to return south to Yorkshire and another
job in printing. Despite this reverse the beautiful coastline
of Orkney inspired a lasting love of wildlife and birds
in particular. Having completed a second spell in the
Printing Industry I have at last reached a stage where
I can paint on a full time basis.
The countryside and wildlife
around my Scottish home in Banff, Aberdeenshire now provides the subject
matter for my painting. |
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