I have always had an interest in art and as a teenager I would copy cartoons from the papers and magazines. Aged 19 I signed up for an evening art class but a few weeks later, before they started I joined the army so never got to attend the classes. My art was put on hold for a few years, but when I got married and had children I started to paint again and would often paint Disney pictures for my young family. Years later I started attempting portraits of our children and this led to my first break. Whilst showing some of my pictures to a work colleague he asked if I would draw a portrait of his son. The pleasure he had in the finished picture led to other commissions. This encouraged me to study books and magazines, in particular portraiture. The more I practiced and researched the subject the more fascinated I became. More recently I have been trying to find a medium that really suited me and the way I work. This medium I now know is pencil, I feel most relaxed when using pencils (graphite, pastel or more recently coloured pencil )