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Taken as a whole, the work I’ve produced over the years probably puts me in the ‘narrative camp’ as an artist, but not obviously so. To make sense of my images, you most likely need to piece them together for yourself - for me, the ongoing process in practice relying on suggestion and dislocated form to evoke multiple readings.
 

The starting point for a work is no less diverse. Drawn to an array of ‘subject matter’, it is the constructed world where I find my motivation lies. Life and Media, Religion and Family, Urban and Rural topography, it is things such as these which have significantly shaped who I am today, and this which acts as both subject and vehicle for the work to develop and evolve.
 

Without doubt, my strategies and how I respond to a piece in progress is personal, though not autobiographical in conventional understanding. For one such example, religion has been a topic I have returned to time and again, though I hold no religious beliefs myself. Rather, the subject explores my encounters and profound response to the daily rituals experienced, having lived with those I have been deeply involved with over the years who live with strong beliefs themselves.

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All in all, the initial motivation for a piece will remain and develop but more often than not, be shrouded in ongoing inquiry , guiding the dialogue back and forth until a wider cultural perspective emerges.
 

                national awards
 

2021       Arts Council England - Developing Your Creative Practice Grant
2016       National Open Contemporary Portrait Awards . The Biscuit Factory . First Prize
1997       BP International Portrait Award . Short-listed for First Prize . Awarded Commendation
1995       BP International Portrait Award . Short-listed for First Prize . Awarded Commendation
1995/98  Northern Arts Awards for Artists
1985        Backhouse Prize for Drawing . First Prize

              selected exhibitions

2020      N E - BODY - The Aviary - Newcastle

2016      OPEN CONTEMPORARY PORTRAIT AWARDS - The Biscuit Factory - Newcastle
2012      FEAR and LOSS – Videos from the Melodrama series – 67B Gallery – Newcastle
2010      LOST and FOUND –  Videos from the Melodrama series - Campbell Park – Milton Keynes
2009      POLISH PHOTOS  .  Hanger 51 in conjunction with the Ouesburn Trust Volunteers  . Newcastle
2007      STARY KRAJOBRAZ – NOWY PEJZAŻ -  EDGE OF PERFECTION [solo] .  Filharmonic . Podlaska .  Białystok, Poland
2004      LA PETITE MORT  [solo] .  the GALLERY .  Huntingdon
2002      ROYAL SOCIETY of PORTRAIT PAINTERS  .  Mall Galleries  .  London
2001      BP PORTRAIT AWARDS: National Portrait Gallery  .  London
                                                         The New Millennium Gallery  .  Sheffield
1999      VITAL ART .  e1 Gallery  .  @ Gallery 77  .  Cowcross Street  .  London
1999      THE PEOPLE'S SHOW - University Gallery - Newcastle
1999      LOCAL AMNESIA  [solo] .  Laing Art Gallery  .  Newcastle
1999      SELF PORTRAIT  .  The Brewery Gallery  .  Kendal
1999      NEWCASTLE X  .  University of Northumbria  .  Newcastle
1998      BP PORTRAIT AWARDS: National Portrait Gallery  .  London
                                                        Aberdeen Art Gallery  .  Aberdeen.
1998      MYTHICAL REALISM  .  e1 Gallery  .  @ Coningsby Gallery  .  London
1997      FABULOUS TRANSGRESSIONS  .  Vardy Gallery  .  Sunderland
1997      BP PORTRAIT AWARDS: National Portrait Gallery  .  London
                                                        Aberdeen Art Gallery  .  Aberdeen
                                                        Ulster Museum  .  Belfast
                                                         Vardy Gallery  .  Sunderland
1996       BP PORTRAIT AWARDS: National Portrait Gallery  .  London
                                                         Aberdeen Art Gallery  .  Aberdeen

1995    JOHN MOORES Exhibition 19 -  Walker Gallery - Liverpool
11995       BP PORTRAIT AWARDS: National Portrait Gallery  .  London
                                                         Aberdeen Art Gallery  .  Aberdeen
1994       FROM A NEW CITY . Washington Arts Centre  .  Washington
1994       THE EQUIVOCAL SELF [solo] .  University of Northumbria MA Shows  .  Newcastle
1993       LAING ART PRIZE  .  University Gallery  .  Newcastle
1993       DAS LAND [solo]  .  Simmons - Anderson - Ramshaw  .  Sunderland
1992       NORTHERN PSYCHE [4 person show]  .  Gray Gallery  .  Hartlepool
1992       THE ROMANTIC BODY [solo]  .  Capers Gallery  .  Sunderland
1991       LANDSCAPES . ART ON LOAN II  .  Northern Centre for Contemporary Art  .  Sunderland
1990       NEW BRITISH ART: Blue Stone Gallery  .  Anchusa   U.S.A.
                                            1990       ARTISTS AT THE BUNKER  [3 person show]  .  Middlesbrough Art Gallery  .  Middlesbrough
1988       ART IN SUNDERLAND  .  Sunderland Museum & Art Gallery  .  Sunderland
1987       PORTRAITS . ART ON LOAN I  .  Northern Centre for Contemporary Art  .  Sunderland

                work held in public collections @

               Tyne and Wear Museums & Art Galleries
               University of Sunderland
               Sunderland Town Hall & Civic Centre
               European Union Government Buildings, Brussels

                university education

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2002      Cambridge University - Homerton . PGCE Design and Technology
               (left due to financial difficulties)
1994       University of Northumbria . MA Fine Art
1985       Sunderland Polytechnic . BA (Hon) Fine Art (2-1)
1982       Sunderland Polytechnic . Foundation Studies, Art & Design (A)

       short biography

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1960  Born 4 April, Monkwearmorth, Sunderland.

1964-76  Early education in Sunderland.

1976-80  Worked in various lines of work with the lumber company Armstrong Addison and Co Sunderland.

1981-82  Foundation Year at Sunderland School of Art specializing in sculpture under Liz Tate, Roy Chapman, Peter Smith and Ian Spencer.

1982-85  Studied Fine Art at Sunderland School of Art, continuing to specialize in sculpture till a second year move into painting. Final degree in painting. Tutors included Barry Hirst, Alan Williams and Ellie Bowan

1985  First studio in Villias Street, Sunderland.

1987   In association with Northern Arts participated in a government lead scheme to run projects designed to place practicing artists in main stream schools for short but sustained periods - the main aim to develop more understanding of contemporary art practice and the role this plays in society.

1988  Second studio at The Bunker, Stockton Road, Sunderland. Along with artists Simon Jackson, Gavin Watson and financial backing from Sunderland Youth Employment Project helped set up Artists at the Bunker, a venture intended to provide affordable studio space for recent graduates.

1989  Completed first major body of work to be shown the following year at Middlesbrough Art Gallery and again with additions two years later entitled The Romantic Body at The Bunker itself.

1988-90  Part time supplementary employment teaching Graphic Design at Monkwearmouth College Sunderland.

1989-90  Part time supplementary employment teaching Painting and Drawing at South Tyneside College, South Shields.

1991  Along with Pam Hutchinson and the backing of Northern Arts, instrumental in developing Capers at The Bunker in Sunderland as a temporary venue to run a limited program of exhibitions.

1992-94  Masters in Fine Art at Northumbria University: Research resulted in two papers entitled Vasectomy on Canvas, and Titled. Final MA Show The Equivocal Self consisting of painted plaster on board included works Distressed Venus and Model Adonis...Tutors included Lloyd Gibson and David Dye.

1994 Entered the BP National Portrait Awards held annually at the National Portrait Gallery for the first time. Short-listed for first prize and won a commendation with the portrait of Art Historian Elisa Oliver.

1995  Visiting Lecturer (Freelance) at Newcastle College.

1995  Moved to Newcastle and rented third studio at City Studios.

1998  Short-listed for the second time for the BP National Portrait Awards and once again attained a commendation with the portrait of ceramic artist Christina Kirk.

1998  Taken up by e1 Gallery in London.

1999  First major solo exhibition Local Amnesia, The Laing, Newcastle.

1999 Badly assaulted for a second time and spent three weeks in intensive care with severe head and facial injuries. The experience left a lasting physical and emotional effect which still often informs the work.

2002  Moved to Cambridgeshire to be closer to London and take up a place at Cambridge University.

2002-03  Taught Painting and Drawing at Huntingdonshire Regional College

2002-04  Joined Trilogy Laser Craft in Huntingdon where a number of new projects were began in video and work developed using the company's high-tech laser equipment.

2004  Moved to Warsaw, Poland where the work developed slowly - taking on board living in a new country and culture.

2008  Moved back to the UK where I continued to develop work based on my encounters (especially religious ritual) while living in Poland, expanding interests in a variety  of disciplines including painting, digital art, photography, video and writing.

2017  Suffered a cerebral bleed with the resulting life saving surgery revealing a large brain tumour - successfully partly removed. Working through PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) remains a difficult daily undertaking,, but with some adjustments in my working  processes, a return to painting (part cathartic - necessarily vital)  has been the outcome whereby to the current day the work continues to develop. 

2021   Awarded 'Developing Your Creative Practice' grant from Arts Council England.