I`m really a self taught artist. A Geordie lad, hailing from a small mining village called Pegswood in Northumberland, originally, from Polish parents. I now live in Stannington, Northumberland, where I’m enjoying all that retirement has to offer.
My art education began in earnest when I started a Foundation course in Graphic Design at Newcastle College, it was here that I really developed most of everything I do today, live portraits sketching etc.
I served in the Metropolitan Police in London where, after 30 years service, I finally retired in March 2009 as the senior Police Artist at New Scotland Yard. I`m now looking forward to at least a few good years exploring the art I have waited so long to do.
My favourite medium is and always will be, is graphite pencil, as I can achieve a high degree of detail in my sketches, some say photographic. I also take great pleasure in drawing cartoons and caricatures of subjects in both colour pens or simply in black ink.
In the past few months, I have started painting in colour using a selection of different mediums, acrylics, watercolours, colour pencil and pastels. Of these, I have found that I enjoy using acrylic paint the most as it dries sufficiently fast enough for me to paint in the style I enjoy. This is probably due to the time constraints I had imposed on me during my employment as a Police artist, interviewing witnesses and victims of very serious crimes.
I love going out for walks with my three Siberian Huskies, into the countryside around me and all over Northumberland, where I use my camera to capture reference material for use in my artwork.
I am available for commissions, including portraiture, animals and also for one off caricatures, for hire to wedding receptions, parties, local schools, fun fairs and fetes etc.