I am a Yorkshire born painter who has retired to the Cevennes. My career began in 1962 in Middlesbrough where I studied Fine Art, then became a teacher. In the 70s I moved to London where I worked in Further Education, until moving to Shetland with my wife Marion. For twenty five years we both worked as teachers: I was an itinerant art teacher visiting different Isles as well as six different schools each week. In addition we were 'full time' crofters responsible for a flock of 120 sheep, three cows, chickens and various sheep dogs.

Island life was fascinating but eventually we longed for a decent climate and time to work with things creative, which were somewhat buried beneath a rigorous routine of animal care and school teaching. I became smitten with France during summer walking holidays and in 2001 we bought an old sawmill as a base. It is here that Galeriejohn was conceived and at last I have time and space to develop my creativity. After a great deal of refurbishment there is now a small private gallery and studio where you can call and be assured of a warm welcome.

"It's what I do. I draw. I paint. I imagine. I visualise. I analyse. I relate what I see to the materials I will need to translate what I see. I plan. The confidence to do this grew from a rigorous, gimmick-free apprenticeship in fine art. My secondary school, not untypical of the time, closed doors rather than opened them. There was a perception that you went to art college because you couldn't do anything else. I never intended to be a teacher but I'm glad I was, I learned lot."

Born 1943, nationality British

Education

1958 – 63 College of Art, Middlesbrough NDD Fine-Art : Painting

1974 – 75 University of Birmingham : PGCE

Work

1964 – 69 Teacher Art & Design, Redcar,Yorkshire

1969 - 70 Development of pre-school Educational Material

1970 – 71 Lecturer in Drawing & Painting, Chiswick Polytechnic, London

1971 – 78 Lecturer in Art & Design, Uxbridge Technical College, London

1979 – 01 Peripatetic Art Specialist Shetland Islands, Scotland

2003 Moved to Southern France

2008 Opened Galeriejohn