I have painted ever since I can remember. It has always been integral to my life. One of my earliest memories, after having seen frescos in the local church at the age of six, was to paint all the walls of my bedroom when my parents were out. I thought they would be pleased- they weren’t!
Undeterred, I went to Dyfed College of Art several years later where I achieved ‘Student of the Year’ in 1976. Since then I have worked in various media especially wood-carving and for the last few years - oils.
I have never seen art as something separate from everyday life - the two are intimately bound together being inseparable from one another. The paintings here are the result of the most recent five years of living in Cardiff- a vibrant, diverse city full of wonderful people. As Picasso once said ‘painting is just another way of keeping a diary’. So maybe this is my diary.
2007 BBC documentary 'Inside Art'
2008 Arts Personality of the Year (runner up) Arts and Business Wales
2008 Arts and Business in the Community Award (Art of Living)
2009 Arts and Business in the Community Award (Hay in the Parc)
2010 Presentation -Palace of Westminster- RSA
2011 PrisonerActionNet Award
2012 Presentation to HRH the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall- The Hay Festival
2013 ITV documentary 'Bang To Writes'
2014 Individual Excellence Award for Performance- G4S.
2014 Published Inside and Out LGBT Writings from Parc Prison
2015 Finalist- LGBT Individual Role Model- National Diversity Awards
2016 Butler Trust- Commendation for working with LGBT prisoners- St James Palace-HRH Princess Royal
2016 Published 'Released Inside- Conversations with Transgender prisoners'
2016 Pride of Parc Award
2017 Hay Festival Interview
2017 Arts and Business Community Award
2018 Included in the Pinclist 2018- The 40 most influential LGBT+ people in Wales (no 24)
2018 Featured in the Launch of 'Openly' by Thompson Reuters
2019 Included in the Pinclist 2019 -The 40 most influential LGBT+ people in Wales (no 23)
2019 Pride of Parc Award
2020 Selected as a Stonewall role model for Wales