Before I was a professional artist, I was an elite athlete in the sport of long track speed skating. My greatest obstacle (other than finding pants to fit my legs and rear end) was overcoming the struggle mentally, technically and physically to get better over the long term. As an athlete, you spend countless hours training and preparing for one or two big competitions. Sometimes things don’t quite come together on the big day. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you should quit. The ability to see the big picture for what it is, is paramount.

My first visit to Cornwall was in 1966 whilst courting my now wife Eileen. I remember the excitement of such an adventure, the impact to my artistic eye of this stunning county never has left me. The clean beaches, the aqua coloured sea with bright light bouncing and glittering on the waves, the unique luminescence of the light, the warmth of each day.
It became a desire of ours to live and paint this wonderful part of the country, but life at that time in the commercial art world dictated I stay north. Many, many trips and many hundreds of paintings of the area later we finally made the move.