I was born in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham in 1936. Have always liked drawing and painting and can remember my father giving me a few pointed drawing lessons on shading at an early age. Unfortunately Dad died when I was only ten years old. My Mother worked in Glass and Silverware at well known firm in Birmingham "Barker Brothers", for many many years until she was 72 years old.

In the area where I was raised, it was the custom to teach children a trade of the area, Tool making, silverware, jewellery making, etc. etc.
During this time I was taught to be a silversmith two days a week, away from normal school, at Vittoria Street School of art, which is in the centre of the Jewellery Quarter. (Now part of Birmingham University Arts)
On leaving school I joined a firm of engravers and operated machine engraving and die sinking equipment. During the evenings I went back to Vittoria Street to learn hand engraving.

At the age of nineteen decided to change careers. Engineering was my first choice and I became employed as an Instrument Mechanic for a firm known as "Powers Samas Accounting Machines". These were purely mechanical machines. In 1959 a merger with "British Tabulating Machines "formed the new firm of ICT "International Computers and Tabulators" was trained on the electro-mechanical and computing machines. ICT became ICL; tabulators had become obsolete with the rise of computers. It was fortunate for me to be around at the time and grow up in the early computer age. My career lasted 34 years, but during this time was always drawing fellow engineers and operators using blank punch cards as my paper, which were in abundance. Finally the throwaway technology and reliability of computers caused my eventual redundancy.

Two years prior to becoming redundant, I had an accident while taking part in a Laurel and Hardy skit for charity. A smashed right ankle and broken leg kept me house bound. Naturally I took up  drawing to pass the time away. Being a local history buff, began sketching from old photo's in my possession, little realising that they would be saleable until a neighbour asked if he could purchase one of the pen and ink sketches. When redundancy occurred, there was a ready-made career to step into. Finally opened a small picture-framing gallery. As most of my work depicted the past, it seemed logical to call it "Memory Corner Studio”.

The gallery had been open for eleven years, I retired during 2002 and closed the gallery  but  I continue to work from home, painting in watercolours, Pen & Ink and Pencil for sketching. Occasionally I run ten week beginners courses in watercolour at my local library. 

My wife Margaret is and always as been my best critic and although she says "I don't know anything about painting" she manages to points me in the direction. We have two daughters and five grandchildren, two boys and three girls.   

Other interests are Genealogy, Photography, and Philately, mainly British Commonwealth.