I was born at Brock, by a river of the same name, in the foothills of the Pennines, although my family roots spring from Aberdaron in North Wales, near which I have a family home. I'm a distant relative of 'Dic Aberdaron', Richard Robert Jones, a well-known character of Welsh folklore. I also live in the Cotswolds with my family, my work reflecting both localities, as well as Spain, Italy, Lanzarote, Gozo, Jersey and beyond where I take paintings groups as lead tutor for Authentic Adventures (formerly Andalucian Adventures).

 

I've been painting ever since my riverside childhood when I spent lots of time fishing or studying wildlife; and similarly through an academic career that took me to Durham (BSc) and Cambridge (PhD) and then to the BBC, where initially I helped set up and produce the TV and Radio programmes for the fledgling Open University - heroic days!  All that youthful waiting and watching for fish or fowl has since inspired my writing of nature essays, poetry, film-making stories, and of course my painting. I've never been bored in the wild, whether as a boy fishing for trout, or else directing films in the remotest places half a world away.

 

I formerly directed wildlife films as a Senior Producer for the renowned BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, England for series such as The Natural World and Wildlife on One. My last work was to help set up, film for and develop the 'Blue Planet' series narrated by David Attenborough. I was also the development producer for the cinematic version of Blue Planet, called ‘Deep Blue’, narrated by Michael Gambon. But despite its excitements, I wanted to paint much more and so in 1998 I decided to paint full-time. I still enjoy giving illustrated talks about the exploits of natural history film making and exploring the parallels between 'painting' with cameras, and painting with brushes. Though the media are different, the approach is the same, the priorities being in order, atmosphere, viewpoint, composition, tone and colour.

 

Every Spring and Autumn with Authentic Adventures, I take guests with a wide range of experience, on week-long painting holidays in Spain, Italy and other locations such as Lanzarote and Gozo, and closer to home, Jersey.  I also enjoy teaching others to paint landscapes, seascapes and brush up on other subjects, when workshop guests (max. 6 per day) can attend my home studio location during winter months (usually January to early April).

 

In my own work, I portray the Cotswold landscape and sometimes its waterways, and also landscapes and seascapes of Cornwall and North Wales, where I have a home on the Lleyn Peninsula. I demonstrate to art groups and societies throughout the UK and give talks about painting and its links with natural history film-making. Please contact me if you would like to invite me to contribute to your group in this way.  In addition, I hold regular exhibitions and welcome commissions.

 

I also write occasional articles for The Artist magazine.  Watch out for my occasional blog in the New Year in the Latest News section of the website where I will talk about my oil and watercolour painting as I move through the seasons of the year.

I am the 2011 recipient of the Menena Joy Schwabe Memorial award for an outstanding painter awarded by the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Mall Galleries, London.