I was born in Invercargill, the deep south of New Zealand, in 1982. I grew up surrounded by motorsport, the family home just a couple of minutes' drive to Teretonga - the local race circuit, with speedway, Go - Kart and motorcross tracks all within a stones' throw. My father raced Go - Karts in his early years, before taking up Midget car racing at speedway, and there was usually motorsport on the T.V. at the weekends when I wasn't watching it in the flesh. I started drawing and painting with water paints when I was about 7 or 8 years old. Simple stick figures soon evolved to more complex pictures using acrylics, as I started to experiment with abstract art as well as keeping my hand in with painting racing cars. Apart from a few art lessons in school, I'm completely self-taught. In 1999 I started racing Go-Karts, and the lack of available time, as well as other interests meant that only a few artworks were completed between '99 and 2006. A couple of years after leaving school I started studying to become an engineer, becoming qualified in 2006. In 2007 I was gifted some un-needed art supplies, re-igniting the creative flame. The first few works created in this period were all abstract, as I experimented with different shapes and colours. After a few years of painting both abstract and motorsport, I now concentrate mostly on motorsport art, in a range of different styles, and my engineering background comes to the fore in my execution of paintings, with the artworks needing to be as accurate as possible.
In my works
of classic motorsport I endeavour to portray the halcyon days of racing,
when the cars were cleanly designed and aesthetically pleasing, while
the circuits they graced were simply ribbons of tarmac in open fields,
cluttered forests, or city streets with little in the way of safety. My
works often have a different theme - sometimes it's a driver, or a
particular car, or a venue, or any combination that is celebrated.
They were times which are looked back on as heroic drivers, mastering iconic cars.
From the photo-real scenery to the pop-art styles, I enjoy bringing these legends onto canvas in my own, unique way.
I also work to
commission, so you can have your own personalised original painting. It
may be a racing car or driver you idolise, your own racecar, or even
your classic road car or daily driver. Contact me via the 'Contact' page.