I always wanted to be a painter, but was sidetracked for seven years into being a restorer of painted and gilded wood, followed by a career in marketing and then, starting in 1999, I spent many years setting up and running a youth and community centre in west London. Although I never stopped drawing and painting when on holiday, About 15 years ago I returned to my first love, oil painting, taking delight in the texture of brushstrokes on canvas. Portraiture has been what I have concentrated on. Then, since lockdown I have taken an entirely new direction, having transferred my studio to my kitchen I have been working on small boards in acrylics and collage and experimenting with abstraction, which is much harder than it seems to the layman!