I was born in Hampshire and educated at Farnham School of Art. I work mainly in watercolour but in the last few years I have explored painting in oils on linen and gesso boards and have found a new freedom. Oils allow one to overlay colour endlessly, to remodel the paint surface at will and to spend months on a piece rather than be limited by the drying speed and paper sizes watercolour demands. Having said that, watercolour, when working on very good paper does allow you to build colour intensity in successive layers. Ultimately it is an unforgiving medium whereas oils give you greater opportunities to correct your mistakes!

I have always lived in the countryside. Early years spent cycling firstly with my parents and then on my own exploring the wonderful South Country gave me a love for landscape and the people therein.

My ‘style’ is my own, developed over decades by quite simply painting ‘as it came’, never wanting to model myself on an idol. The biggest shock to my approach to painting happened while working as an official war artist alongside the British and Dutch Royal Marines and Special Forces. Here I encountered testing conditions, emotions and subjects. The job, for that’s what it was, led me to extend my range of techniques and explore new ways of self-expression and to find different surfaces, pigments and methods of applying the paint.

Now I am through my years of war painting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Bosnia and Eritrea but the lessons learnt during those adventures I can apply to my ‘gentler’ subjects. Interestingly, although I am a Hampshire/Sussex based artist I always long for the Welsh mountains and high hills of the Pennines. The raw weather and harsher dramatic scenery provide me with challenges I don’t find in softer country. The feelings I have when in a more ‘edgy’ environment seem to sharpen my creativity.

The works on display here are wide ranging both in subject and treatment. Oils, watercolours and drawings. They illustrate my interests and passion for the subjects undertaken. I hope you will enjoy the presentation.

I continue to be represented by Francis Iles Galleries, a relationship in its twenty fifth year. Although they no longer have a gallery in Rochester, they operate an online gallery, so my works that they hold can be viewed there. They will also maintain a presence at the major UK art fairs.

On my own website I will introduce a ‘News & New Works’ page which I will update regularly.

The prices quoted on this site include framing of my choice but delivery by whatever means will be charged extra if need be. I do not normally sell unframed works as I insist on using conservation quality mounts, backing and framing. The sizes quoted are the painted image not the framed size.