Q. Tell us about yourself and how you came to be an artist…

A. My path to becoming an artist was not a conventional one. I have never had any training or artistic education and had two careers before deciding to become a painter. However I always new that it was what I wanted to do. It just never seems like a realistic option and perhaps in my youth I lacked the conviction. 

Originally I trained as an Architect as I misguided considered this a balanced option between creative outlet and job security and actually completed all 7 years over three degrees and worked in practice designing schools. Long story short I loved studying Architecture but no being an Architect and felt I was not very well suited as I do not possess a detail oriented mind, which is pretty crucial. In addition the education sector was on it’s knees at the time and I was part of a mass redundancy not once but twice in two different practices, which was not exactly the dream I had hoped for.

During this period a contemporary of mine from University called out of the blue and asked if I had ever considered working for a specialist Architectural recruiter. Naturally I said never, but it was not working out where I was and I thought I could make some money whilst I worked out what was next. 

It was here that I asked myself what did I really want out of life and it was always to be an artist. So after admittedly a longer stint that I had planned (as I was strangely very good at Architectural recruitment) I decided to quit and give it a go. That was nearly 4 years ago and thankfully it is all working out rather well!

Q. What is your creative process ?

A. My creative process starts with observing the world around me. I am always making notes and writing down sound bites and overheard conversations and every day scenes. This will often intermingle with popular culture and iconography to create semi fictional narratives that are routed in real experience. In terms of execution I try to let myself be free and not be too tied down to one from of expression. Sometimes I am inspired by found images and photographs or people I know and other times I work purely from my imagination.

Q. Your main character trait?

A. Having written the above I would have to say persistence.

Q. Describe your work in three words...

A. Raw, fun and emotive.