I was born in 1972 and grew up in Girvan, Ayrshire where I was exceptionally lucky in having the artist James Harrigan as my mentor and Art teacher at secondary school. Jim strongly encouraged me to consider art as a career, and it's thanks to him that I developed my passion for art.
1990-94
I studied painting at Gray's School of Art. During the following year I lived in Cyprus, where I completed a Post Graduate Diploma in painting at the Cyprus College of Art in Lemba. I returned to Gray's School of Art in 1996-97 to do a Masters Degree.
2005
As a result of winning the Peacock Visual Arts Edition Prize at the Aberdeen Artists Society, I was very privileged to work alongside the late Jonathan Jones at Peacock Visual Arts. Jonathan was a huge support at that time and his work still inspires me to this day.
2006-2011
I moved abroad to teach in the Middle East, living in both Cairo and Dubai. I particularly wanted to visit Egypt because of the ethnic style and appearance of my work. Previous to this I was often asked if I had travelled to or lived in Egypt or Africa. I felt at that time for my paintings to progress in style that I really needed to visit these locations.
2011
I returned to Scotland and I've had a studio with WASPS since 2016 in Edinburgh. From that time I have been experimenting with creating characters who have a more realistic appearance in direct contrast to the abstracted backgrounds arranged behind them. My main aim is to create works which are emotive with a strong sense of narrative.
