I’m a painter currently based in Milton Keynes, where I spend a lot of time making slightly odd self-portraits in oil and acrylic — usually featuring me in an assortment of eclectic items of clothing and various props gathered from auctions and charity shops (my two favourite hunting grounds). There’s a definite strangeness to them, but in the best possible way (I hope).
Before all this, I lived a rather sensible life. I did an apprenticeship in engineering and spent years doing a range of perfectly respectable, slightly soul-numbing jobs — including climbing telegraph poles in all manner of British weather. If it wasn’t raining sideways, the sun was trying to bake me onto a cabinet somewhere. It built character, apparently.
Somewhere along the way, I began to drift toward art — eventually earning a Certificate of Higher Education through the Open College of the Arts. That was the turning point: a slow, paint-splattered rebellion from the practical into the wonderfully unpredictable. I feel lucky to attend Westbury Arts Centre for an art club and also for mentoring — it’s a place that supports and inspires my creative process.
Art has been a journey for me — one that started as a whisper in the background and has slowly taken over the foreground (and most of the walls in our house). While it’s satisfying to look back and see how far things have come, what excites me most is where it’s all going. I never quite know what I’ll paint next or where my imagination will drag me — and honestly, that’s the best part.
When I’m not painting, I’m usually scouring second-hand shops for new hat inspiration or explaining to delivery drivers why there’s a mannequin in my hallway.