My journey into art initially started out as somewhat of a staggered one, as a youngster I was constantly drawing, sketching or doodling etc. Moving forward into my teens, for a short period I abandoned this life long enthusiasm and trained / qualified as an apprentice panel beater. Before long I was juggling evening courses in art and design, shortly followed by a one year diploma in design at Jacob Kramer. By the time I’d completed these, my enthusiasm for Art superseded anything truly academic and after completing a fine art degree through Leeds University I was completely hooked on applying paint to canvas (as unpopular as it was back then).

I find the simplest way to describe myself is "a painter." Over the years I’ve had many a conversation with accomplished artists that will quite often describe how they'd developed a comfort in their technique. For me, it's an ever challenging, constantly evolving process driven by a conflict between my obsession with perceived details and the desire to demonstrate evidential repetitive brush marks. Personally painting will always be at the root of what drives me. A deliberate restriction designed to focus the narrative.

It was Hopper's 'Nighthawks' that initially sparked my early interest in art. Damien Hirst's 'Spot' paintings persuaded me to try using a paintbrush. Durer, Vermeer and contemporary artists such as Clive Head, Ed Ruscha and Richard Estes all played their part in influencing me.

The stories sown into each piece of my artwork are often sparked by simple day to day observations or by casual conversations that people kindly choose to share with me. Second to this, but perhaps more obviously, is my fascination with reinterpreting the patinated imperfect beauty of overlooked places or forgotten objects that seem forsaken by time!