THE DECADES

1970 - 1979

The 70's was a major period of change for me, having married the year before, then moving to London from Liverpool, becoming a free-lance designer, then securing a teaching job in Batley in 1972 and back to Yorkshire, all happened "in a whirl".

My work at this time had mainly focused around Textile Design, but after teaching drawing and painting to students, I began to move toward a more illustrative style, mainly in monochrome using pen & ink and developed a highly laborious technique of stippling.

This now seems strangely reminiscent of the large-scale spray paintings I had produced as a student at Liverpool, but on a micro level where I seemed to want to control every single mark I made. In 1974-75, more figurative aspects began to surface through my drawings and I produced my first "realistic" painting, "David's Room", a 4ft square canvas in painted acrylic & spray gun applications. This was to prove to be my most seminal work to date and whilst I continued to complete the series of pen & ink studies I had begun, my mind was on a very different course; the painted portrait.

After the birth of our son Dan in 1978, we bought our current home in Sheffield and I used the spare bedroom as my studio. The School of Art in the 70's and early 80's encouraged staff to pursue their creative inclinations/own work and apart from the long holidays, we had a day off per week! Although I never had enough time to paint, the balance of being a lecturer and a p/t painter, seemed a good one at the time.