Hello and Welcome to my Website

My Story

Born and raised in a mining family in Nottinghamshire, I held a number of positions before obtaining my B Ed (Hons) in Art and training as a teacher.   I taught Art in a variety of schools before moving to Scotland to work with children with Social, Emotional or Behavioural needs initally as class teacher before being appointed Headteacher of an Additional Support Needs School  in Fife.

​

As a result of a long term illness I took early retirement from my post in 2020.  I returned  to painting, initially to aid my recuperation, building up gradually  from just a few minutes a day to two to three hours a day.  I now split my time between tending to our garden and painting from my studio (a big wooden shed!) in the garden of my home near Kelso in the beautiful Scottish Borders.

​

My Paintings

​

Working solely in oil on canvas, my paintings range from more naturalistic depictions of the world in which we live to what I call my "paintings of the mind" that explore human nature with all its strengths and flaws.​

​

My greatest inspiration comes from the symbiotic relationship between light and dark and how the changing quality of light alters, not just the appearance of a scene or object, but also the mood and emotions associated with it.  The absence of light is equally important both visually and emotionally.

​​​

I hope these works encourage you to make your own sense of the paintings, and to connect with them in your own way.

 

It may not be the same as I intended, but is every bit as valid. We all have our unique ways of seeing and responding to the world in which we live.

 

​