Personal story as a timeline...

1963 age 9: confined indoors on a rainy day in my modest Derbyshire home, I first saw an image of Michelangelo’s ‘David’. It was ‘a lightbulb goes on moment’ revealing the beauty of the male form 

1968-70: I was taught ‘0’ level art by an inspirational Art Teacher, Dick Venning. It was the height of counterculture, anything was possible and we were wild. We hung out on the forecourt of Nottingham Playhouse living our best boho lives…

1972-75: as a young undergraduate studying a BA Hons Geography, I became immersed in some of Britain’s outstanding landscapes – I was taught Geomorphology which gave me a grounding in the concept of ‘structure’. Lots of field sketching too, so drawing landscapes goes back a long way. European trips exposed me to some amazing art: the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and The Louvre in Paris.

1976-89: I taught Humanities and Personal, Social, Health Education to young people – I learned how people evolve and develop, and that included myself

1989-90: my Masters training in Human Relations taught me how to connect affect with visual representation. I grew as a person and immersed myself in the mind (Rogers) and the body (Reich).

2006-20: as an Associate Professor in a UK university, I taught my students how to represent their experience creatively and I presented queer histories through a performative lens  

2020-present: I embark on my art school experience: creative short courses at Nottingham Trent University, a two day landscape painting training with Paul Bailey, portraiture with Matt Waruszynski and most importantly the last three years with an inspirational tutor, Julian Bray at Newstead Art Classes in Nottinghamshire.