I sketch and paint in my spare time, it’s just a hobby. I’m self-taught — well, I got a low grade in O-level art, which scuppered the vague dreams I had of going to art school. After that miserable achievement, I forgot all about creating my own art, till I pitched up in a one-room apartment on my own in Hong Kong in the late 1980s. In the second-hand bookshop down the street I found a “teach yourself to sketch” book — and happily, next door was an art supplies shop where I bought a sketchbook, a couple of pencils and an erasure.
Over the years, I joined a variety of art classes in Hong Kong where I was fortunate to study with some amazing people – Rosalind Gordon was a fabulous teacher, who really got me started; Victor Lai is a professional artist who was a true inspiration; and Patricia (I can’t remember her surname, unfortunately) provided masses of encouragement in her acrylic painting classes. Thanks also to two good friends: fellow artist Martine Beale who was the catalyst for a number of exhibitions and collaborations, and Sally Trainor, probably the most creative person I know.