Good morning and welcome to my first blog, thanks for popping by. Whilst it appears everyone from the age of 3 to 70 has grasped the whole social networking blogging bug, I have been reluctant to part with my diary and battered brick like excuse for a mobile phone, as my main modes of communication.    

At the point of sounding like a redundant old bastard, twittering and facebook are not really my cup of tea, however you can't count anything out!

Are people really interested in the thickness and the stretchability of  the toilet roll I use to wipe my arse, i doubt it. Although Andrex do have a new floral range out thats aesthetically pleasing.

However I will endeavour to keep you regularly updated with  my practice, which might leave some of you reaching for the roll afterall.

To inform you I'm currently working towards a show in Artco at the end of April. Those of you who have been to Artco in Leeds will appreciate just how superb a space it is. Without sounding bias, Simon at Artco has done a tremendous job building up and cementing  Artco as one of the leading spaces in the region.

My studio is situated in Redbrick Mill, Batley although occassionally I head back up to Edinburgh to work in my brother Kevins studio, quite possibly the coldest place on earth

The next two months are going to be hectic in the studio, drawing, paintings and prints will be strewn across the walls along with the obigatory empty whisky bottle. The fire is in the belly though, so watch this space so to speak. 

I've been working on some large charcoal drawings that are extremely dense and painterly. The physicality of using charcoal and rubber has been a  battle.The large void spaces of black have to be sculpted to bring back the light and form of what your depicting.Chiascuro.

Examples to follow.