​Where do you get your inspiration from?
I get my inspiration from a myriad of sources. What I see either in nature or from other artists work. I try, though not as effectively as I would wish, to evince the feelings I experienced being in the place or situation I have painted
What is your background in art?
I have always run my own businesses which have been art/design related. For 20 years I worked in leather doing what was typical for the time, including bags, belts, furniture, etc, and in the 80’s fashion. During this period I also worked with leather as a sculptural medium, had a variety of exhibitions and have work in collections here and overseas.  I had a business making steel furniture in the 90’s and ended my working career with a design consulting / project management business.
Are there any artists/teachers/people who have particularly influenced your practice?
I can cite no particular influences though enjoy the work of Manet, John Singer Sargent, Walter Sickert among others. Current artists’ whose work I admire include Euan McLeod and Guy Maestri.
Talk about your art. How do you feel your art has evolved over the years?
I look back over my painting in the last decade or so and while I am constantly trying to get freer and often feel I have gotten looser in my brush work I’m also surprised about how far I haven’t travelled. Sometimes I see evolution, other times not as much change as I would have hoped.
Are there any exhibitions or art events that you’ve recently attended that have particularly impressed you?
It’s hard to be impressed with any recent exhibitions I have seen especially in NZ. Here we seem so politically driven and identity obsessed that I find little to excite or inspire me. Occasionally I can be impressed with good craftsmanship but even that is in short supply. Message and agenda is now front and centre meaning skill and craft come a distant second.
In your opinion what makes good art?
Good art is really impossible to define given that ‘art’ has lost most of its historical intent. Now ‘art’ is what you define it to be meaning that anything can be art as equally nothing is art. I want to see good technique especially a freedom and confidence whatever the medium used. I want the art work to say what it can and not be accompanied with a verbose explanation. I believe that a picture truly can say a thousand words, and that a blurb is an admission of failure. All I am wanting in my painting is to bring pleasure and joy in the viewer. There is much more to life than the dissatisfaction daily expressed and I want to show that.
What can people expect to find when they come to your exhibition “Scene along the way”
In coming to my exhibition people will see, as the title expresses, what I have seen and experienced in my recent travels. The subject matter is varied as is my life and evidences my enjoyment of painting and life in general.