Tell me about yourself, where you live and your background/lifestyle.
I live in the Scottish Borders close to Berwick-upon-Tweed and 50 miles
from Edinburgh, in a converted stable block about a mile from the
nearest village. I have an etching studio and figure drawing room in
Berwick in the same building as my wife who is a therapist/healer.
I was born in a pit village in County Durham and went to art
college at the age of 16 then on to Newcastle University to do a degree
in fine art. After flirting with working in a museum then a record shop
I became an art teacher and taught for about 14 years. When I got to
the point where I was thinking more about my work than the students I
decided it was time to be honest and quit. I have always disliked
teachers going through the motions when their minds were elsewhere.
I opened an art gallery in Berwick and began a more full time
approach to art. I had taught myself etching over the years and in the
last few years this has become my commercial contact with the public but
my real and life-long obsession has been with drawing the female face
and body.
Who first influenced you artistically?
As a sixteen year old I saw a show of Modigliani and Soutine and
their obsession with the figure may have taken hold.......Like all
young art students I fell for Cezanne but gave up on him when I
realised how dreadful his figure work was and how deeply he bored me.
Degas became my main man because he seemed so obsessed with the human
figure and so intrigued with technical processes. Along with Degas I
would now add Egon Schiele, Rodin and Bernard Dunstan. Dunstan surfaces
when I long to be able to paint rather that just draw.
What first attracted you to the Internet?
The internet attracted me because I could see much more figure art
out there than in Edinburgh and because I have always preferred to look
at art in books than on the wall in galleries so looking at pictures on
the monitor is an extension of that. I was also intrigued by the
technology of scanning drawings then zapping them off around the
globe! I enjoy email as a method of communication.
What kind of artwork do you expect to be doing in the next 12 months
or so?
Exactly as I am doing now......etching, drawing with my models and
wondering when the great painting will appear on the horizon.
Is there anything about the way you produce your work that you
believe to be unique or unusual?
No