I am a professional artist, and a Professional Associate with the Society for All Artists.  I specialise in animals in pastel and mixed media, and as well as exhibiting my own work I tutor groups and individual artists in my home studio near Torrington, Devon.

I have been a professional artist for nearly thirty years, many of which were spent in the giftware industry.  My work has been published nationally and internationally on a large variety of giftware products, including collectors plates and greetings cards, and a selection of recent original paintings and limited edition prints is available through leading publishers Buckingham Fine Art (www.bucksfineart.com).

For many years we had planned a move to the country and after much searching we found an extended nineteenth century cottage in rural North Devon.  My indoor studio is perfect for running my various courses, and there is an elevated patio area in the grounds which is ideal for outdoor painting in the summer.

Animals have always been an important inspiration for my work, especially my own cats and dogs.  I used to foster abandoned cats and kittens for an animal rescue charity, in the first summer alone housing and re-homing thirty six waifs and strays.  Many of these willingly helped pay for their keep by posing as models for greeting card designs for a variety of top high street shops.  I currently have two cats, Tiggy and Millie, who started life on a farm in Somerset - I went with the intention of photographing the farmer's bull, but these two tiny kittens were so adorable I didn't need much persuading to bring them back!  They too help out from time to time with modelling services.

My paintings and limited edition prints are sold by a number of galleries in England, and my work has also been shown and sold at the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art.  

'With "Wolfman" Shaun Ellis'

As I live between Exmoor and Dartmoor many of my paintings feature the livestock and wildlife of Devon, including the much loved Exmoor Ponies.  I also undertake commissiions of my clients' favourite animals, cats, dogs, horses and cows being very popular - along with the occasional wolf!

I like to be able to read the expression in an animal’s eyes so that I can capture its character in the painting.  I mainly work in hard and soft pastels, which enable me to render the texture of fur exactly as I feel it should look.  I sometimes also work in oils, although I prefer pastels, as they lend themselves more easily to reproducing fur textures.
 
Commissions, demonstrations and tuition take up a good deal of my time.  My house has its own studio, where I run art breaks, courses and workshops.  Please click on the links on the menu for further details of these..