Enraptured by all things magical, I’ve loved mermaids, fairies and all things fantasy since I was a little boy. Reading books in which reality itself shifts (if only you’d care to look) has helped me to keep a tight grasp of the magic I’ve craved through to adulthood. 

Since my mid-teens, I have had struggles with poor mental health, and the creation of fantastically themed artworks is a blissful form of escapism. I would often try to lose myself in a library and admire the dust jackets on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books as a teenager. Unsurprisingly, a lot of my artwork is influenced by my love of literature, most often in the genre of science fiction and fantasy (if you’re looking for me, that’s where I’d be!)

I’ve heard it said that my artwork is illustrative, which divides the art community as to whether it can be called “fine art”. I believe my works bridge the gap because they are as much at home in a gallery setting or a book, mirroring the urban fantasy element in literature where the supernatural brushes up against the ordinary. I bring my subjects over from the imagined, create illustrative works digitally and then cross over into works made by using traditional mediums, which often includes acrylic or oil paint on linen.

Josh Kirby, who created the iconic cover art for Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, started much as I have. He studied fine art, painting with traditional mediums, yet ventured into the world of illustration, and that is when his career flourished. Another artist I admire for the same reasoning is Charles Vess, who paints with watercolour and gouache, yet has worked with author Neil Gaiman for the illustrated edition of Stardust.

A combination of these elements is what has inspired a lot of my recent work, including an A3 acrylic painting I titled The Wooden Door. In this painting, there is a hand at the centre, reaching towards a door, and emits a magical power depicted by a translucent, rainbow-like glow. The rainbow-like shimmer extends to the wood and starts to make it crack and crumble by will alone (or magic!). This piece took inspiration from Ravensong, a book by T.J. Klune, who is a prolific author in the genre of gay fiction and fantasy novels.

Mixing the magical with the ordinary is what drives my artwork; the fact that it helps to maintain my remaining marbles is a bonus! A decent mixture of emotional depth and a generous slice of humour is the best medicine for the incurable state that is the human spirit. Authors I read manage to achieve both in droves. I laugh. I cry. I focus on what matters to me and my art: storytelling.