I have painted or drawn almost all my life. Painting and drawing has always been a means to relax and escape the immediate pressures of work and life. I am essentially self-taught and owe any knowledge I have to books, trial and error and listening for gems from artists or those who have been formally trained.
In 1968 my art took a change of direction, when my trade instructor asked me to paint three pictures for him in oils. He “paid” for the paintings by providing me with oil paints, brushes and canvas boards. Since then I have painted predominately in oils with the occasional diversion into water colours, acrylics and soft pastels.
On retirement with a sudden increase in available time, I took some art classes, painted regularly and joined the Diamond Valley Art Society. I moved to the Gold Coast in 2015 and joined the Royal Queensland Art Society and with advice, instruction and criticism I started to put some real understanding to what I had read in books.