About

I was born in Birmingham, in the industrial heartland of England in the early sixties and attended school there. At seventeen, after a period of travel, I moved to London where I commenced a dissolute lifestyle, living in large communal squats with a revolving cast of fringe dwellers, drug dealers, drunks and dole-claiming visionaries, some of whom I captured in portraits.

For income, I painted hanging pub signs and commercial murals and ended up working with a high-end decorative arts company applying gold leaf, doing faux finishes, and executing murals and tromp l’oiel painting. Whilst living in absolute squalor with the outcasts of society I worked on the homes of the most powerful and wealthiest in London. 

In the mid-eighties, I applied for and gained a place at Central / St, Martins School of Art. However, at that time the painting department was run by a cadre of abstract expressionists who had no time for figurative painting. I basically entered a three year running battle during which my only real ally was my tutor and mentor John Stezaker. John influenced my outlook on the conceptual aspect of image making and through him I met several of the influential artists working in London at that time. 

In the mid-nineties I finally got to travel to New Zealand to see an old friend. I eventually made the decision to stay here. In time I got married and started a family. It was here that someone suggested trying the film industry and that became the main source of my income. I spent the better part of 20 years working as a scenic artist and eventually lead scenic on large blockbuster productions both here and overseas.

With my daughters now fledged I am concentrating on my easel painting, finding my artists voice once again.