Even from the youngest age I can remember, I would spend hours just scribbling or sketching, creating random pieces of art, with surreal shapes and vivid colours. As I got a little older, at the age of 11 I discovered a local gallery that did oil painting classes for beginners. My parents enrolled me, as they thought it would give me more of a clear direction to take my art skills, this is where my art journey really began. The course ran for 10 weeks, after which, the Artist who ran the classes moved me into the adult advanced class. At the meagre age of 11 this was quite a daunting step, as the class was predominantly made up of established artists aged 40+.
As time moved on I continued to grow my oil painting skills and really found a true affinity with this medium, to the point where at age 12 I had my first exhibition at a local library in the area of Blackpool. It was a roaring success and of the 16 painting I exhibited, I sold 13, and got 3/4 of a page in the local newspaper. I had now established my skills that was going to carve out my career for the rest of my life.
At the age of 13, the art teacher and gallery owner, asked me if I would like to start teaching, this was a great learning curve for me, having to understand the techniques and medium of oil painting in a lot more depth in order to pass these on to my students. I carried on with this for the next 3 years and thoroughly enjoyed Working on a variety of different pieces, sharpening my techniques and working on more and more complex pieces.
Now at the age of 16, I was leaving school and had to decide on a clear path to take with my art, which could be basis my future career. I looked into various college courses, fine art was a prime choice, obviously. That said I was conscious I wanted to choose something that would give me a broader range of career choices, as fine art had limited job options at the end of it all.
Taking the leap, I opted for a 2 year course in Art & Design, with a defined focus on Graphic Design, after which, I completed a degree in graphic design. This career choice allowed me to use my artistic flair in a more commercial way, utilising the fundamentals of my art skills in a digital arena.
Once I was qualified, I took the role of graphic designer in a few companies, working my way up to creative head of a leading design agency, of where i still work today. That said I have never really stopped pursuing my passion for art in my spare time. Diversifying my medium of choice from Oil painting to Pencil crayon, both in black & white and full colour.
The medium of Pencil crayon has led me to change my artistic style, being more precise than oils generally, I can achieve a photo realistic finish with pencil crayons. Capturing tiny details of the subjects I undertake. Rather than being know for my previous accolades in oil painting, today I am more recognised for my pencil portrait drawings of dog, cats and people, although will undertake any subject I am commissioned to do. READ MORE ABOUT MY SPECIALISMS