Bill Tolley was born in Chiswick and at the age of fifteen won a special scholarship for St. Martin’s School of Art in London as part of a new experiment in art education. The idea was to create an artist that was able to be ‘free minded’ and to capture this insight before it was lost through age. Bill completed his course at eighteen and after two years National Service he returned to St. Martin’s ‘sitting in’ on lectures while working part time.

Bill’s work has evolved over the years creating images using acrylic which are full of emotion.

‘‘…painting is not about being logical it is done emotionally.’’