ABOUT ME
About Me
I am a Bristol born artist navigating my way through the animal art world using mostly acrylic and spray paint on anything it'll stick to.
I have always loved art, as a student, art was pretty much my only passion. Never did I think it would be what I would do for a living. I was always under the impression that being an artist was a side hustle, not something I could live off of financially and creatively. When I became an artist, it wasn’t actually planned.
Most of my working life I have spent it in an office, doing a job I had no passion for, and counting the down the clock until home time. But after a rugby accident where I tore both my ACL and meniscus, meaning I needed to have my knee reconstructed. In the time of waiting for surgery and then also recovery I was unable to work and I had a lot of time on my hands. I picked up the paint brushes and started to enjoy creating again. Using social media to share what I had created, I slowly started getting commission requests, and from that day I never looked back.
Going back to when I was a student, I admired Jenny Saville. She was the first artist I had come across that painted using colours that weren’t obvious to the naked eye. She would paint enormous naked ladies, and their skin tones would have acidic greens and pale blues throughout. It was blocks of colour you wouldn’t expect to make “skin tone” but it worked so beautifully. I am inspired by life though, I see animals or images of animals and visualise how I would paint them. Sometimes I see a painting of mine in my head before I even attempt to create it. I usually know exactly what I want to achieve before I even prime my canvas.
In the majority of my works I use a combination of acrylic and spray paint. I have always been comfortable using acrylic paint. I find it so versatile. I water my paint down to build up my drip layers. And the more detail I add to a piece the thicker the acrylic I use. Not always but most of the time I use spray paint, especially when I want a real vibrancy of colour. There is something about the pigment in spray paint that you can’t get with acrylic. Especially when I am using neons or chromes.
When I paint murals I still use near enough the same process as I would when I am painting on canvas. Layering up watered down acrylic, building up the layers and finish with spray paint and thick acrylic detail. It's a process I have perfected over the years. Which showcases my style and my signature look.
Over the years since I started life as a professional artist, I have had the pleasure of working with some phenomenal artists, groups of people and companies. I have been involved in life changing events, commissioned to paint murals for multinational companies and been interviewed by the local and national news. I have donated and raised funds for charities all over the world by simply just using my art. I have taken part in Upfest, the largest Street Art and Graffiti Festival every running year since 2016. Upfest have been such a huge support form me since the day I took part in my first festival. Still to this day I work very closely with them and gain so much from our partnership. I could go on for endless paragraphs about everything I have done since becoming an artist but instead I will just list below.
Achievements :
OPEN STUDIO 2022
SOLO EXHIBITION - Centrespace Gallery December 2021
KINARI Magazine Artist Feature 2021
BACKGROUND BOB Book Feature 2021
Silverback Gymwear Collaboration - Best Seller - 2021
BACKGROUND BOB Exhibition 2021
Shipshape Gin and Southville Deli Collaboration 2021
Upfest 75 Artists 75 Days - Whale Mural 2021
Swindon McCarther Glen Outlet Mural 2021
Paintworks Bee Mural 2021
SOLO EXHIBITION - Centrespace Gallery June 2021
ITV Interview for Six Sisters Mural 2021
BBC Bristol Interview for Six Sisters Mural 2021
BACKGROUND BOB Collaboration and Fundraiser 2021
Six Sisters Mural - North Street Bristol 2020
Bee Hunt 2020
Live Painting Art Battle Bristol 2020
Tiger Mural North Street Bristol 2020
Flight Logistic Bee Van 2019
Art Battle winner 2019
Totterdown Arts Trail 2019
BLE Europe Live Painting London 2019
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2019
Fox Mural - Castle Park Bristol 2019
CASSART Live Painting Bristol 2019
CASSART Exhibition 2019
THEIR VOICE Solo Exhibition - The Kane Gallery at BocaBar Glastonbury 2019
Tamworth Urban Arts and Sports Festival 2019
International Mini Meeting - Washingpool Farm Mural 2019
Upfest Summer Editions 2019
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2018
Broken Bunnies 2018
Valleyfest 2018
Artistic UK London Exhibition 2018
BeeHunt Bristol 2018
UPFEST Festival - Dying Out 2018
Heron Mural at Herongate Club 2018
Art Battle Artist 2018
Airbus UK Mural 2018
Shark Mural - Cheltenham road, Bristol 2017
ArtSpace LifeSpace PRILIC Exhibition 2017
UPFEST Festival - Orangutan 2017
The Crunch - Made in Bristol TV - 2017
ART FOR AFRICA Contemporary Urban Art Auction 2017
Cow Byre Mural - Thomas St North street 2017
Radio Bristol - The Laura Rawlings Show 2017
The Better Food Co - Exhibition 2017
The Victoria Park - Exhibition 2017
Cormorant Installation - CARGO at Wapping Wharf 2016
Illuminated female exhibition at Upfest 2016
Arts in the Park 2016
UPFEST Festival - Ivory 2016