Artist's Introduction

I am a self-taught artist living in Nottinghamshire, England. Although I have always loved art, it wasn't until my later years that I began to paint. As a teenager, I loved drawing, but never ventured further than the pencil as my preferred art tool.

Much later, I experimented a little with oil pastels but photography won the day. It was not until my retirement that I thought of returning to art, and joined an art group at my local University of the Third Age (U3A), where I began my introduction to watercolours.

I quickly gained confidence in this medium and soon became prolific, painting anything and everything that wasn't tied down (and even some things that were)! I also experimented a little with the use of gauache, mainly as an adjunct to my watercolours.

This led to my trials with acrylics, but I didn't take easily to the demands of this quick-drying style of painting, even though there were a few reasonable successes. Similarly, the few attempts to create a 'masterpiece' with pastels or coloured pencils were not my forté.

Then at last - I discovered oils! A local painter was giving a six week introductory course in oil painting, so I enrolled. I was soon captivated by the ease with which I could blend colours with a wet-in-wet technique, and knew instantly that I now had the means to deliver the kind of art which suited my style.....