Country: Scotland
About me
Born and raised just outside a wee village in Scotland, I was always fascinated by the flora and fauna of the surrounding countryside and farmland. I would spend hours exploring and observing everything from frog spawn to frost patterns, developing a deep interest in nature. This love of wildlife has always stayed with me and now forms the basis of all my artwork.
My first formal art education was at Manchester Metropolitan University where I did a foundation course in Art and Design. I then went on to specialize in illustration and completed my degree at Edinburgh College of Art. Since graduating I have enjoyed doing illustration work for National Geographic, The Sunday Herald, the RSPB and Wynstones Press, but I also really love the freedom that comes with doing my own freelance artwork. I exhibit this work in galleries around the country.
Currently I spend most of my working days outdoors, in various locations around Scotland, observing and recording our incredible natural world. I love the variety we have here in Scotland, from the noisy spectacle of seabirds that crowd our rocky coastlines in Summer, to the quiet stillness of watching deer feed on a cold winter morning. This variety of habitats, species and seasons is an endless joy to me, and nothing beats the feeling of working straight from life.
Variation in style is something that comes naturally in my work. In some cases this is a deliberate attempt to capture some of the qualities of my subject by varying the brush and pencil marks to suit the subjects physical appearance or behaviour. In other cases it seems to happen almost by accident, perhaps influenced by my own mood or the weather or just a reaction to the medium I am using that day.
