About Me

I do a variety of things and with this varied diet of work and fun it keeps me busy most of the day. Personal creative output is mainly focused around paintings and websites, both of which bring me interest, joy and frustration in different measures depending on the day and problem currently being solved or developed.

Painting

Painting in the sense of art to hang on the wall is something that I have only discovered within the last 10 years. Before that, if I was painting, which I did get to do quite often, it was in a ‘painting and decorating’ context. However, I always found enjoyment and even fascination while doing that and I have come to the realisation that I just find working with the mediums of paint, plaster, filler and even sand paper incredibly satisfying.

There are two main aspects that draw me to painting that I do not find in any of the other creative work that I do. Firstly, there is the actual physical action and motion in the process of applying the paints, dyes, inks and plasters to the canvas. It is both physically dynamic and mentally absorbing while working with the materials and the longer the process goes on the more my mind clears of any other thoughts apart from the action and study of the work in front of me. Secondly, when I begin I often have no particular idea of where I am heading with the work. I let myself be guided by intuition during the process, watching the mixed mediums react to each other on the canvas, so there is always an exciting surprise of what I am going to discover and see before me when I set my tools down.

Throughout the whole creation process I am watching for an interesting balance of texture, colour and composition. I work the materials and wait to see what might take shape and continue to adjust, adapt and tease out the composition that begins to form on the canvas. My actions, movements and choice of materials can change as the work develops. I have to know when to stop as it is entirely possible to over work a canvas while lost in the creation process.

I was at Falmouth College of Arts from 2000-2003, where I studied 3D Design for Sustainability. I met my wife while there and after graduating we both moved to London where I worked as a painter / decorator and also for a couple of design studios. We moved back to the countryside after a couple of years where I then worked within a variety of family businesses until mid 2021.