I am a designer with a 30 year plus history in many award winning design consultancies and advertising agencies in and around London, including Addison and Smith & Milton.
As well as my daytime job I have volunteered with an arts charity as marketing officer. Squeaky Door took Shakespeare’s The Tempest to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for two years running, in addition to many other productions. More recently I am helping the Upper Usk Valley Rural Alliance with their website and social media.
Working as a graphic designer often includes commissioning and art directing illustrators and photographers. This gives you an insight into their processes, working methods and requirements. I found this fascinating.
Like many designers I chose this path because I could draw. My fine art work tends towards the photography and print disciplines. I photograph landscapes and natural forms because that it what interests me. The work is often converted to black and white and only slightly edited. With other works I like to create a linocut graphic effect using software techniques. I have found that this works better on relatively complicated subjects because it creates textures.
Artists who inspire me often use bold, abstract shapes and colours. They include Lucien Freud, David Hockney, Henri Matisse and Mark Rothko. My favourite photographers include Ansel Adams, Terry Donovan, Nick Knight, Benoit Paillé, Rankin and Peter Zownir.
