I have returned to my first love of painting since I have retired. I was a civil engineer so had a good grounding in technical drawing and plans. I like to paint animated subjects and hate still life. Steam trains, will always be a favourite. Portraits are now what I am being requested to do most frequently. mainly animals. The life drawing has proved the most challenging as I have had to improve my observation and soften my style to portray women. I will have a go at anything and I am trying to illustrate a children's book at present. Whilst the author is brilliant he only hand writes his work so I have become interpreter and typist to.

They like my work at the Queens theater in Hornchurch but have only sold two so far. How ever I did come first in the Havering Open Art Exhibition last year. It has been a sad summer in 2017, with the death of my wife but I have used art as a way of coping with the stress. Two of my best paintings were done during her last weeks and these were the only two she never gave constructive criticism. Perhaps I am getting there at last. Over the last two years I have been producing a calendar printed locally and sold for charity. Where to next? Well I have been asked to do four more portraits, two in oils. Give more tuition to friends and have learnt pastel for animal portraits. Unfortunately my printer has now closed down so more calendars are no longer an option. However one of my portraits has been included in a book published in New York. Still awaiting a signed first edition as the book as got lost in lock down. This frustrating periods has been largely occupied by completing my model railway, which is featured under my model making section. I have also taken over the running of the LeNu life drawing classes at Hornchurch rather than see them disappear. We managed 10 classes before the second lockdown disrupted everything. Hope to re open again as soon as we can meet again indoors. Well we re-opened for a brief time before the second lock down and as I knew how to do risk analysis and method statements, I found that I was now running the group. Since a return to normal the group has grown and now requires a larger room. It is also now running at a profit and can afford a little experimentation.