I have drawn and painted since childhood with an artist mother who painted hundreds of Pilbara landscapes, immersing me in the painting process. Art materials were ready at hand making it a small step to using them. Growing up in the Pilbara region of WA in the towns of Dampier and Karratha, molded my love of painting and the spectacular nature of the North West of WA stayed with me forever.
I took art in my final year at Karratha Senior High and exhibited with my High School teacher during that year in a “Student Teacher” exhibition showcase. I was accepted into the fine arts course at WAIT as a 17-year- old where I majored in Sculpture. This led to a refining of my art skills and knowledge.
Marriage, children and life then intervened so art took somewhat of a backseat for a time though I was constantly either painting landscapes or screen-printing one-off bespoke T-shirts for friends, family and acquaintances.
This period of steady, but not high volume, art works continued for many decades until late 2016 when I moved with my wife to Margaret River and entered the wine industry. This move was to both satisfy the “Tree Change” urge and to pursue the art dream. This led to me, vastly increasing my output and gaining commissions from artwork I had on display in various Cellar Doors. We were privileged to be able to build our forever-house and art studio in the kangaroo strewn hills down Kevill Road just out of Margaret River.
Life changed dramatically when my wife, Pauline, was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2021. This difficult period came to an end when I lost her in October of 2023. The Margaret River community, (thank you River Angels) every person we came to know here, had made the two of us feel totally accepted and at home. This precious gift now helps me through all facets of life and along with the stunning environmental qualities our region possesses, enables me to produce my art.
Pauline gave me permission, encouragement and the love to follow my dream and so I stopped full time work in October 2024 to finally pursue my first passion and I have been painting full time since then.
My love of painting now propels me through life and working primarily with oils on canvas, I now explore landscapes of Western Australia. Often approaching them in an exact representational style, I love to interpret the vibrant colour and light present in our vast WA vistas.