About the Artist

Originally I had written about myself in the third person; it was really rather bland and dull, and as I never refer to myself in the third person (and am weary of folk who do), I decided a rewrite was in order. So to my dear reader, whom I imagine are few in number, “who am I?” - The philosophical question that pervades us all.

The title says “About the artist”. Like others it’s a term I struggle with and have a dislike for labels of any kind. If for example, I declare “I am an artist”, my beloved girlfriend laughs at the pretentiousness. If I announce, “I am a photographer”, it is assumed I am a full-time professional with my own studio and thousand’s of pounds worth of equipment. If Tracy Emin’s can sell a soiled bed, then surely we are all potential artists of some form or another?

Suffice to say, I am a chaser of aesthetics, and am raptured by the aesthetic ideal seeing through the eyes of the late romantics. In long solitary walks I am always in the company of those that passed before me, and any religious void is replaced by an aesthetic spirituality in the wonderful shapes, colours, depth and landscapes that lies before me. Sometimes to see the world in this way leads to the despondency of never wanting to pick up the pencil or brush; how can we possibly compete the dynamic beauty of nature? Other times it is just a pleasure to try and emulate a small part of it, to freeze a moment and extend its life, even in the knowledge that all things eventually fade to dust and are forgotten.

Existential preoccupations aside, I was born in the late 1970’s in the city of Norwich. Raised by two doting parents, in an unfurnished terrace with an outdoor water closet; they mortgaged themselves up to the eyeballs so they could start a life and family together, and I will be forever grateful. Growing up, I moved through several different counties in England, the most recent being Mossley in Lancashire (see photo below, of the near by Saddleworth moorland hills).

Saddleworth hills, on the doorstep of the artist's home (at the time of writing).

I always liked art, but never pursued it throughout my childhood or teenage years. After spending three and a half years without real direction embarked upon a computing degree in Leicester, I put aside the years of object oriented programming and database design, and taught myself graphic design skills with no prior experience. A year of unemployment followed, succeeded by a brief badly paid job working for a man with no soul, but eventually I landed on my feet and worked full time as a professional graphic designer in a good company.
I was probably around 25 years old when I picked up a pencil for the first time with a desire to try ‘art’! To the horror of cuisine etiquette I held my pencil in the same clumsy, overbearing manner as my cutlery, and drew a series of sickly looking stick figures. Within a week this progressed to a portrait in which I was immensely proud, despite the glaring disproportions and oversized eyes. With wetted appetite, I consumed art book after art book, and tried media after media for the following two years, until work began to impede a great deal more upon my time, and the same fiery appetite had to be quashed to a degree to ensure I wasn’t the literal starving artist.

At the time of writing I am less than a month away from moving into the heart of Paris, and whilst anxious about leaving the safety of the pond (oh, and the fact that I cannot speak French fluently at all yet!), I also relish a change in life/culture and hope it will have a big influence on my art. Whilst wary of living in a city, and preferring the serenity of fresh air and morning bird songs in the countryside, I intend to make the most of where circumstances are taking me. You can peek into my adventures, and see some of my photography from the city of lights here: Paris.

If you are not too green about my starting a life in the most romantic city in the world, you are most welcome to contribute towards my well-being, I still have to conjure the pennies from somewhere (soon to be cents and euros of course) – I’m hoping not to write the modern day follow up to George Orwell’s ‘Down and Out in Paris and London’. Please feel free to commission a portrait, purchase a sketchbook (these will still be based within the UK), art guide, or buy a piece of art. The “artist” will love you forever (hmmm, seems I've gone back to writing in the third person after all).