I have lived and worked in Sheffield all my life. I have a wife, lovely Irene and two exemplary sons, Ben a fire-fighter and Chris, an interior architect with a prestige practice. I also  trained as an architect and thought it would be my career. I worked in private practice until 1993, when I decided to try and turn a part time painting hobby into a full time career. I am a compulsive sketcher and painter en plain air and carry my kit with me almost everywhere I go, especially on holidays home and abroad, but in the pub, opticians, shopping centre, cafe, you name it; there is no better way to hone your skills than to sketch and paint whenever and wherever you can - and working in short time scales teaches you to pick out what matters most and describe it succinctly and well - which has to be good for your art.
  I do a great deal of teaching, in fact I have a bit of an imbalance - I need to make more time to just paint! 
  I run three of my own very structured watercolour courses each week in Dore, Sheffield;  I run painting and drawing surgeries for art groups and societies - troubleshooting events to cure problems and develop skills, (regardless of medium), and bring a better understanding of the bigger issues - like composition, perspective, colour theory, balance and lots of the other under-appreciated or misunderstood issues which underpin good work;  I give 1 to 1 lessons to fast track students' development;  I co-run the weekly life drawing classes at Sheffield's Millennium Gallery;  I write and deliver Art residencies in primary and secondary schools - 1 to 5 day projects, which can work with a class or year-group, or mobilise an entire school of 200+ students, with an age-related progression of skills, to explore and clarify understanding of ANY subject on the curriculum (including the core subjects) in a very different way which never fails to engage. Art residencies are brilliant; they can get the children, staff, parents and governors involved before, during and after school, working in a whole bunch of media and everyone shares my adrenaline rush and sense of achievement.  I am also currently lecturing in drawing skills at Sheffield Hallam University.   As well as all that, I paint private and commercial murals; caricature at special events, (weddings and the like); publish two greetings card ranges from my own Fine Art work, which celebrate the city of Sheffield; illustrate the occasional book and will do a stand-up painting demonstration with a gripping narrative at your fundraiser or similar event.