I hail from Banora Point, near Tweed Heads in Northern NSW. The landscape of the Tweed Valley is spectacular, and has always been inspiring to my art.
My art career spans about 35 years, beginning when I was seventeen, having decided I wanted to pursue art as a career. I have achieved recognition today, mostly as a painter of Australian Landscapes and Characters. In particular, my paintings of Australian bushmen have been very popular. I have been called a narrative impressionist, which I think is a pretty good description of my style of painting, because my work both tells stories of the Australian bush, and conveys the atmosphere through loose, impressionistic brushwork. I think the influence of the Australian impressionists is evident in my work. I also do drawings and sculpture.
In more recent times I have completed a number of commissions, such as the series of paintings for the Bradford Group, depicting the Heroes of Gallipoli, for reproduction on collectibles. I'm always open to new commissions. I have exhibited widely throughout Australia and internationally, including at the Pacific Design Centre in Hollywood, and at the Dyansen Galleries on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, USA. So far this year I have exhibited in Rome and Moscow. I am represented by the Park West Gallery in the USA, which deals in limited edition fine art prints of my work, sold at auctions on international cruise lines.
I am also on the board of directors of the Science-Art Research Centre of Australia, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the development of ethical science through the arts and a reinterpretation of the ancient Greek notion of a Science for Ethical Ends - a 21st Century Renaissance.
Two years ago I was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. Following chemo, radiation and surgery in early 2021, the cancer returned and I was given only a few months to live. At this point the cancer seems to have backed off, which seems quite a miracle, so I'm making the most of every day.