Career Highlights
These are some of the memorable events from my time living and working in Europe.
HISTORIC ENGLAND The Kettering Buccleuch Academy has a unique relationship with The Duke of Buccleuch and access to his Northamptonshire home, Boughton House. As the Academy Artist in Residence I was able to regularly visit the house and grounds to deliver on-site masterclass lessons and eventually accepted an invitation onto the Heritage Interpretation Panel to oversee the restoration of the Montague Monuments. These beautiful marble carvings are dedicated to four of the ancestors of the current Duke of Buccleuch and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity and the experience of a rare insight into a tangible piece of historic England .
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE at the Kettering Buccleuch Academy included supporting the Art Department staff and sharing my artistic experience with the students. I was to mentor and provide workshops, on a wide range of subjects and travel with students and colleagues to Paris, France and travelling overland to Barcelona, Spain.
The new-build Academy building was a blank canvas and I was to design large scale Wall Wraps to create an immersive educational experience . A Corridor became Spanish Street or Underground station, pillars became trees, and windows became oversize bookcases to name a few . I have left a visual legacy that I am immensley proud of.
EXHIBITING in Group or Solo shows is something I have done throughout my career . The experience of Artist Exchange/Residency opportunities, not only included exhibition opportunities, but the living and studio space in some incredible locations, like a historic Castle in Germany. Four years later it was to be the hilltop village of Montecastello in Umbria, Italy. Living in an old monastery with my studio in a nearby Italian townhouse . I would return to Italy some years later to attend the 70th Anniversary of the WW2 Battle of Montecassino commemorations and exhibit a work of Remembrance titled " Boy becomes Man becomes Memory" .
REMEMBRANCE - The impact of WW1 & WW2 was a subject students would explore through artwork . The creation of large scale installations such as a 5m poppy waterfall and researching for remembrance day artwork displays was always a very special event.
Remembrance remains a subject of historical and personal interest for me.