I have been a creative person all my life, my Dad showed me how to draw horses, ships and Mickey Mouse. He taught me about animals, I would go on mini-safaris in the woods behind our house, lost for hours, just searching for and watching nature. I cannot thank him enough for making me the person I am today. At school I studied photography and fell in love with it, I could never take a picture and leave it alone, I would have to do some experimenting in the darkroom to make the image "better or different". In the sixth form, I helped out in the photography department, including building a darkroom and cinema, I was in my element, and I spent every free lesson I could there. On leaving school, my photography became my hobby, travelling all over the country with my trusty Praktica. As my experience grew I traded the old camera in for a Minolta 9000. I went to every air show I could, taking photo after photo, learning to pan and focus etc. I would shoot off 9 or 10 rolls of film, this became very costly and eventually, I found I was taking my camera out far less and having a young family focuses your attention on other things. I am however the sort of person that needs constant stimulation, an explorer, often taking a road I’ve never been down before to see where it comes out. In 2010, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. It had a profound effect on me, coming to terms with the fact that you have a lifelong debilitating disease is something else. I found it very hard and at times, even now on a bad day, I struggle, physically and emotionally. My wife bought me a digital SLR camera, to give me something to do. This single act sparked my passion for my art again and has helped lift me every day, something for which I will be eternally grateful to her. I would go on short walks around the marshes where we lived and snap away to my heart's content. Going digital has been a revelation, as my mobility has become worst, I have found that not being restricted in my creativity has helped me get my love of creating back, somewhere to just escape the pain. I have (just about) come out of the dark days now, feeling stronger and able to cope with life. I have learned that I can do whatever I want to do, not reigned in by fear of failure, the one thing that held me back before. The majority of my work is digital, I draw photorealistic images, and make composite art using elements that I craft with Ai, oh and I still take the odd picture now and then.