I was born in Stalybridge in 1948 and have been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember. I have always been fascinated by people’s faces and spent a lot of time drawing images of historical characters and my film heroes etc. From school I went on to art college and subsequently into commercial art but gave it up after a few years, preferring to paint just for pleasure.

I will paint anything I think will be an interesting project and hopefully produce a pleasing picture. My main passion, however, has always been portraiture. My personal view is that a painted portrait allows the artist to create an image entirely original and more perceptive than anything that can be achieved with a camera.

I work predominently in oils and every subject represents it’s own particular challenge. Each picture is a voyage of discovery. As a painting progresses, it often develops differently from the original concept, which for me makes the process so intriguing.