I am a professional artist & art Tutor living and working from my home based studio in the small coastal town of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland in the UK. I live with my partner John Graham and we have two labrador retrievers called Storm & Haze and also an albino ring neck parakeet called Casper.
Born and raised in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, I always loved being out in nature. Spending time observing local wildlife has always been a favoured pastime. It is where I found a passion for birds as an art subject. I would spend hours as a child with my pencils and pens, drawing these remarkable creatures.
I was raised in a home full of pets such as dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, tropical fish and budgies. I have always loved being surrounded by animals and peoples pets became the main focal point of my work. I began creating pet portrait commissions back in the early 90's which I still do to this day and this website was created for this purpose. I am currently working on a second website where my art concentrates solely on Northumberland; it's amazing scenery, history and of course, the wonderful wildlife it harbours. A link will be added here once the website is active.
I have always worked with coloured and graphite pencils but began working with acrylic paints in the late noughties. Although I still enjoy working with coloured pencils, my preference is with acrylics, finding their fast drying nature appeals to my short attention span, but also because of their capabilities which allow me to achieve extremely fine details with them.
For me, the quality of the products was the most important matter, but secondly as an animal lover. I wanted products that were environmentally & animal friendly too and so I began extensive research before settling on the Caran d'Ache Luminance & Derwent Lightfast Coloured pencils and for my Acrylics I chose the heavy body GOLDEN paint range. The surfaces I use for my Acrylic portraits are both constructed by an Australian company called Ampersand who makes boards for different mediums, but I use the Gessobord or Pastelbord surfaces which allow me to create much finer detail. If you wish to find out more about the products I use, you can see my 'Artist's Tools' Page.
Born and raised in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, I always loved being out in nature. Spending time observing local wildlife has always been a favoured pastime. It is where I found a passion for birds as an art subject. I would spend hours as a child with my pencils and pens, drawing these remarkable creatures.
I was raised in a home full of pets such as dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, tropical fish and budgies. I have always loved being surrounded by animals and peoples pets became the main focal point of my work. I began creating pet portrait commissions back in the early 90's which I still do to this day and this website was created for this purpose. I am currently working on a second website where my art concentrates solely on Northumberland; it's amazing scenery, history and of course, the wonderful wildlife it harbours. A link will be added here once the website is active.
I have always worked with coloured and graphite pencils but began working with acrylic paints in the late noughties. Although I still enjoy working with coloured pencils, my preference is with acrylics, finding their fast drying nature appeals to my short attention span, but also because of their capabilities which allow me to achieve extremely fine details with them.
For me, the quality of the products was the most important matter, but secondly as an animal lover. I wanted products that were environmentally & animal friendly too and so I began extensive research before settling on the Caran d'Ache Luminance & Derwent Lightfast Coloured pencils and for my Acrylics I chose the heavy body GOLDEN paint range. The surfaces I use for my Acrylic portraits are both constructed by an Australian company called Ampersand who makes boards for different mediums, but I use the Gessobord or Pastelbord surfaces which allow me to create much finer detail. If you wish to find out more about the products I use, you can see my 'Artist's Tools' Page.
Newbiggin by the Sea & Northumberland
I moved to Newbiggin by the sea in May 2014. It is a small, coastal town that borders the more well known town of Ashington and is known for the breakwater sculpture Called ‘The Couple’ which you can see in the first image above.
Northumberland is a beautiful place to live with clean, sandy beaches - one of which is a five minute walk from our house. We often take our dogs down there and let them paddle in the sea, scanning the horizon for all sorts of wildlife. As a cyclist, Northumberland has some great cycle paths, rather flat in contrast to the ones in my old home town which is close to the stunning Peak District, and in summer we enjoy cycling up the coast to Cresswell & Druridge Bay with our cameras looking for reference material for our Art and simply enjoying the scenery, peace and tranquility. We are both bird enthusiasts and try and visit Cresswell at least a couple of times a year to visit the bird hide and photograph the Barn Owl that has become somewhat of a celebrity with local photographers. As artists, photography tends to go hand in hand with art to avoid copyright issues, but we also find it very therapeutic allowing us the chance to study subjects in the flesh, taking in the surroundings for possible future compositions. There is an abundance of wildlife here in Newbiggin and sometimes spot the odd deer running across the fields and into the trees on our afternoon dog walk as well as the beautiful sound of the Curlew calling and Pheasants disturbed from the undergrowth as we walk past. A few miles up the road is the QE2 park at Woodhorn, wild Red Squirrels can be seen, appearing quite comfortable around humans and allowing people to photograph them as they visit the feeders, thoughtfully set up by the staff. Much of this Wildlife will be seen in upcoming Art over the next few years.
Northumberland is a beautiful place to live with clean, sandy beaches - one of which is a five minute walk from our house. We often take our dogs down there and let them paddle in the sea, scanning the horizon for all sorts of wildlife. As a cyclist, Northumberland has some great cycle paths, rather flat in contrast to the ones in my old home town which is close to the stunning Peak District, and in summer we enjoy cycling up the coast to Cresswell & Druridge Bay with our cameras looking for reference material for our Art and simply enjoying the scenery, peace and tranquility. We are both bird enthusiasts and try and visit Cresswell at least a couple of times a year to visit the bird hide and photograph the Barn Owl that has become somewhat of a celebrity with local photographers. As artists, photography tends to go hand in hand with art to avoid copyright issues, but we also find it very therapeutic allowing us the chance to study subjects in the flesh, taking in the surroundings for possible future compositions. There is an abundance of wildlife here in Newbiggin and sometimes spot the odd deer running across the fields and into the trees on our afternoon dog walk as well as the beautiful sound of the Curlew calling and Pheasants disturbed from the undergrowth as we walk past. A few miles up the road is the QE2 park at Woodhorn, wild Red Squirrels can be seen, appearing quite comfortable around humans and allowing people to photograph them as they visit the feeders, thoughtfully set up by the staff. Much of this Wildlife will be seen in upcoming Art over the next few years.
Step by Step Art Workshops, Articles & Tutorials
Although the main part of my work is Commission based, I also have a dedicated website for Artists with Articles on Art products and mini Step by Step Art tutorials too. As well as writing Articles & tutorials, I also tutor Art workshops on a Part Time basis offering 1 & 2 Day Workshops in my old home town in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. These cover a range of subjects tutored in Coloured pencils, Graphite pencils & Acrylics and are available for artists of all calibre and none. I enjoy helping people to create something that they can be proud of, and my Workshops always include demonstrations alongside 1 to 1 tuition so everyone feels supported throughout.
I have written numerous articles and mini tutorials that cover other mediums and products such as pastels, oils and water based products that can be found on my Step by Step art website, click any of the links below to find out more.
