I studied drawing and painting at Bournville School of Art, specialising in life drawing and history of art. I also set out on a career within the printing industry, managing to combine this with an ever-developing style of work in both fine art and illustration.

Growing up in Birmingham in the sixties and seventies has given me so many memories to draw upon; it has given me my identity and working class ethic. The working man in my industrial street scenes is an iconic figure reflecting the industrial age, but it could be in any city or any town. The wonderful assortment of characters that appear in my paintings take inspiration from a number of sources including illustration, story books and theatre.

People interpret my characters in so many ways, take the Victorian man for instance, is he Jack the Ripper, a magician, or a Phileas Fogg type of character? I like to keep his identity a closely guarded secret, hence his title the ‘Man of Mystery’.