My earliest recollection of having the desire to become an Artist stems back to the age of five when I witnessed the most amazing event unfolding in front of me. A large scaffolding structure had been erected in my infant school assembly hall. There were three Artists painting a large mural of hot air balloons in the clouds; it influenced me heavily at a young age. From that day onwards my art consciousness came to life. I was asked in junior school to paint a large dinosaur in one of the entrance halls, and took great pride and pleasure in producing it. I was honoured that the teachers had chosen me, and have never taken for granted the early encouragement, faith and praise they gave me. I knew then that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Art College and University opened my eyes to the plethora of inspirational artists, ideas, painting and drawing mediums that I could readily have access to. Eventually in my last year of my Degree I chose sculpture as my specialist area, creating life-size horses from willow.

In the year 1996 I achieved my BA (Hons) in Fine Art at the University of the West of England, Bristol. However it was my love of painting which returned to me after leaving University, and keen to make some kind of living I endeavoured to become a practicing artist specialising in animal portraiture and still life.

My personal work lies in a fondness for still life. I like to be in control of the miniature worlds that I have created, much like setting the stage for theatre. I am deeply inspired by the Dutch masters, and the way that they use light and symbolism to create drama and atmosphere. I sometimes have clear cut ideas of what I am trying to say through a personal language relating to the symbolism of the forms I choose. Other times I let myself get seduced by objects for no other reason than the aesthetic beauty that I find within them.

I am a member of the Devon Art Society, and was a committee member for over five years. I have previously shown with Paignton and Teignmouth Art Societies in which my work was taken to Quintin and Barr in France. I have exhibited my artwork in many locations around the South of England. I have had my work in The Lantic Gallery, Tiverton, The Hans Price Gallery, Weston-Super-Mare, The Richmond Gallery in Surrey, and The Duchy Square Gallery for Creativity in Devon to name but a few.

I would say the highlight of my art career so far, and what continues to be, is to have my work regularly exhibited with the South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts.

My work is based around incorporating natural and man-made objects, depicting them using unconventional discrepancies of scale within a still life context. I would like to make the viewer question the relationship of these objects, hoping that the feel and atmosphere of the paintings provoke a sense of timelessness and peculiarity.