I grew up in Devon and always led an outdoors life regularly horse riding in the local countryside and up on the breathtaking moors. As a youngster this love of horses led me to regularly produce paintings that my parents proudly displayed around the house but having left school with a GCSE in Art I decided to follow a 'safe' career path in office administration.

Whilst visiting a friend in America I discovered that she did pet portraits and, spurred by her example, I produced a portrait for myself during my stay and this is where my interest in pet portraits began.

Upon my return to the UK I continued working full-time but started to take occasional commissions and, steadily, the number has increased over the years. In 2005 I moved to Gloucestershire and took the opportunity to pursue portraiture as my full-time career.

My paintings are all about the character of the individual and I incorporate a lot of detail into each study to enable the viewer to see and feel the true personality of the subject. I currently work exclusively in acrylic and am entirely self taught in what can be quite a tricky medium due to it's quick drying qualities. Despite the challenges of the medium it's the speed with which it dries that enables me to incorporate the depth of detail I desire into the final piece to create the lifelike quality.

I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to do what I love as a profession and find great pleasure in producing portraits that will be treasured for years to come.