Tim Shorten was born in Bolton, Lancs. He studied at Bolton College of Art & Design, Preston Polytechnic (now the University of Central Lancashire) where he gained a BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art, and Leeds Polytechnic. He is Head of Art and Design at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys in Cheshire , and lives in Bolton with his family.

Why do many of my recent works seem – at first glance at least  – to depict a time half a century ago? Some romantic attempt at nostalgia, perhaps? Or have I just looked at Hopper for too long? Neither; I think there are really two reasons. Firstly, when we try to imagine, images associated with our childhood are often very potent. Train travel, for example, seemed very exciting and glamorous to me as a child, and the recent works based on railway stations evoke hazy recollections of those early experiences. I certainly don’t paint actual childhood memories, but I accept that I might be subconsciously recreating – or just creating – a world which I imagine existed back then. I’m in my fifties now, and the 1960s shaped who I am.