I'm 54 , born and brought up in Ashton-Under-Lyne and moved to Blackpool in 1997. I was a hairdresser by trade and was given a paint set as a birthday present in 1994. at the age of 38 I began teaching myself to paint and eventually moved to Blackpool and changed jobs and became a postman at Blackpool south shore in 2001 to give myself more time to paint. since 2014 I have been medically retired from Royal Mail with an arthritic shoulder which has given me a chance to paint all day. Since then I have been artist of the month in 2018 in Lancashire Life, won the Winter gardens 140th anniversary art comp in 2018, and held a solo exhibition at the Stockport war memorial art gallery in 2016. Since 2014 I have held several exhibitions at the pavilion cafe in St Annes and a couple of solo exhibitions at the Solaris centre.