| I was born in May 1966 in Bridgwater, Somerset in the South West of Britain. My father, who was from Trinidad, worked as an electrician. My mother was from Devon and devoted herself to sustaining our family. I went to Blake comprehensive school. I worked in a variety of jobs whilst still at school, at the weekends and in the holidays, including vegetable picking, on a battery hen farm and a mobile grocery van. I also earned money recycling scrap metal.
Thanks to my pottery and also the art teacher, I got a place at the Somerset College of Art and Technology, in Taunton, but could not afford to go as it turned out. A year later I went to Bridgwater College and passed an A'level in Art. To pay for my studies I worked for a window factory as a fabricator~ fitter~ repairman.
At 18 I moved to Bristol, the nearest city. During that time for seven weeks I hitched around Europe, through France, Switzerland, Spain and up to Luxembourg and then Germany. In particular I was impressed by the Swiss Alps, the kindness of strangers and the Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres. On my return I trained in renovation; as a plasterers mate and painting/ decorating. A year later I visited Morocco where I first saw Arabesque designs and like so many artists before me was enormously inspired.
In the mid-80's I took an Art and Design Foundation course at Filton Technical College.
In 1989, I moved to London where I worked as a kitchen porter in a Japanese restaurant in Mayfair and then later as a cleaner/ ticket collector in Hornsea Road swimming baths. That placed closed and for the next four years or so I spent my time drawing and painting. I also spent quite some times doing voluntary work for The Anti-Apartheid Movement. At this time I was participating in Mail Art exhibitions~ sending original lino and wood cut prints around the world to exhibitions in Art Centres, Libraries and various other Community Centres. |
