“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Pablo Picasso
From a very early age I’ve always wanted to create images and make things (as cliched as it might sound). I spent a great deal of time during my early childhood drawing pictures mainly of buildings – later using watercolour paint to tint the drawings. I also enjoyed using my late father’s tools to make wooden trolleys/go carts with old style pram wheels – the wooden bodywork painted to look like formula one racing cars (which was a bit of an obsession into my teens – also making card models of Brabham’s, Lotus’s and McClaren’s…).
I have always been inspired by the landscape near to my home town of Ashbourne (the watercolour of Sturston Lane below was painted when I was in my late teens – 40+ years on and the scene is still much the same).
Living in such a beautiful area of the UK has given me a lot of inspiration for my work. It has a magnetic attraction for me personally, I don’t think there’s any place in the UK (or the world for that matter) that could match the unique character and ambience of the surrounding scenery of Ashbourne, especially the subtle beauty of the Peak District National Park being just five miles up the road. It drew me back after studying for three years in Norfolk, which is a beautiful county in its own right but no match for the Derbyshire Dales!
My home town of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, is a very attractive market town with an interesting history. It is mainly associated with agriculture and there are a number of limestone quarries that are in operation in the Peak District northwards (lots of HGV’s pass through the town on their way south). In the last century it had its own large mill building producing corsets under the product name ‘Excelsior’. Ashbourne is often referred to as the ‘gateway’ to the Peak District National Park and is a popular with tourists during the summer.
Samual Johnson, known to have compiled the first English language dictionary, was a regular visitor to the town in the 18th century. Great musician and composer, George Fridric Handel was also familiar with the area while he lived in the UK. He donated manuscripts of his music to the owner of nearby Calwich Abbey for his library (the original building of that era was replaced by a Victorian one that is now sadly derelict).
The town has a very strong sporting tradition – having its own ancient ‘Royal Shrovetide Football’ game dating back many centuries – held on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday each year. The two millstone ‘goals’ are three miles apart and are built into the north facing bank of the Henmore Brook – at Sturston for the ‘Up’ards’ side and at Clifton for the ‘Down’ards’ side – with the town itself roughly in the middle where ball play often takes place in the streets. The finely painted ball (handmade with a cork interior and leather exterior) is scored by being tapped against the millstone by an individual team player three times. The ball is ‘turned’ up at the start of play at 2pm on each day (and also each time after a goal is scored before 6 pm – play can go on until 10 pm – but as soon as a goal is scored after 6pm play ends) by either a distinguished (‘retired’) player or a local dignitary (previously turned up by two former Princes of Wales – Edward VIII and Charles III). Similar versions of this game were once played in many towns throughout the UK centuries ago, the ancestor of the modern rugby football game.
After completing a Foundation Course in Art & Design at the former Derby College of Higher Education, I spent three wonderfully creative years studying for a degree in graphic design at Norwich School of Art (1981-84). In 1985, with the support of my parents and the MSC Enterprise Allowance Scheme, I started out as a self-employed visual artist and furniture designer/maker. From 1986 to 2006 I worked as a part-time adult education tutor for Derbyshire County Council teaching painting and drawing skills.
I currently live on the edge of Ashbourne with my (very supportive) wife, who is a teacher and musician (our teenage daughter is now away studying at university but still thinks of Ashbourne as her home town). We both enjoy listening to music from all over the world but we especially appreciate contemporary traditional Irish music. 
We like to play traditional tunes ourselves (having originally met at a trad. music session) attending an open instrumental session twice a month in a lovely old Ashbourne pub called the ‘Smiths Tavern’ (3rd Sunday from 2.30pm> and 4th Monday from 7.30pm>).
I still enjoy listening to new wave music that dates back to my early 1980’s art school days (esp. Cocteau Twins). I also enjoy listening to contemporary and classic rock/dub reggae/ska/old hip hop/electro bands and all genres of good music (inc new sounds played on BBC 6music).
I always like to have music playing in the background when I’m working in the studio or workshop and have recently been listening to more classical music (esp. Beethoven’s piano pieces) and jazz music (esp. Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Miles Davis and associates) either on the radio, CD or online.
When time allows we always enjoy our walks in the Peak District (with sketch pad or camera to hand) with our lively Romanian rescue dog ‘Star Kiara’.
I hope you enjoy viewing my work on this site, any comments you would like to make about my work would be very much appreciated.
