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Kenya is a magical place for anyone to grow up, and that was where I was lucky enough to spend my childhood. Both my parents were making their own way in this wonderful country flying light aircraft in the 50's and 60's. My mother and her friend also ran a horse trekking establishment between them.
From these early years it gradually became clear to those around me and eventually to me that a future lay ahead as an artist. Perhaps I would follow the family tradition, my uncle was a member of the Royal Academy and my uncle painted miniatures for the good and great of India.
As the juggling of wife/mother/taxi driver etc. eased a little with time, I approached the foremost publisher of canine art 'Sally Mitchell Fine Art', and my career took another step forward. Then, having been invited to stay with friends on Exmoor, who were respectively 'beater' and 'picker-up' on the Chargot shoot, a new phase of my career began. With kind permission of the estate owner John Marshall and the assistance of estate manager Dave Powell, and with the paintings hanging in the stone built shooting room, I began to undertake commissions of the Guns themselves. By accident rather than by design, I was in my element, with the added bonus of being able to offer a unique painting, which completes the shooting experience by allowing the Gun to hang on their wall an artwork of themselves on their favourite drive, on any shoot in the country.
My own dogs provide me with great pleasure and much inspiration. There is Cedric the Basset Fauve de Bretagne, who in his own quiet way is the rock of the group and then the Gordon Setters. They take me all over the country showing, exercising, training days and purely socially…….owning Gordon's is to be part of a club which needs no title and no committee! I am hugely lucky that my work is also my passion, I am equally at home in the sporting field, the show ring or just the pure companionship of dogs.
I am now publishing my own work. Choosing the images carefully, only a very limited number of signed giclee prints are offered of each, together with certificates of authenticity. This enables me to maintain the uniqueness of my work, while gradually building up a collectable portfolio of sporting country art. I work in watercolour and with a simple camera take basic shots of my subject, using them as a sketchpad - a colour here, a figure there, a landscape that catches my eye. With many exhibitions behind me, and my work selling internationally, I take great pride that many clients return again and again for further pieces.
Recently I have been lucky enough to have the help of a very good photographer (and friend) for the more technical aspects of my work where an advanced camera and technique is required, especially on gathering material of birds in flight. Many thanks John Hubble
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