Steven Campbell was the artist who made me decide to become an artist. 
A tutor at Camberwell Art College recommended I check him out so I went to their library and found the above exhibition catalogue. After seeing the catalogue I realised that this was something I loved, wanted to do and could do. I knew, there and then, that I wanted to be an artist!

Here’s the first painting I ever painted on a stretched canvas way back in 1988. It represents my first proper work of art and I can see that it has interesting symbolism. I still love it as it represents the beginning of my artistic journey.

I went to Glastonbury festival in 1989 with some friends from art college. On the Saturday night we were on the hill facing the stage and I was lying down listening to Suzanne Vega. I closed my eyes and I could see myself as this kind of Astral Man with stars in my head and spirals slowly spinning. I guess it was probably caused by something I’d digested earlier…
Anyway, at this time I was shifting my art from focussing on problems to focussing on solutions and this experience just nudged things along a bit

I read this book whilst at college and I thought it was really interesting and it led me to reading quite a few books by C. G. Jung. However this particular book has never left my mind. It’s just always been there. I don’t necessarily want it there but it’s just always there, hovering somewhere in the background.

Pinocchio was released on video around 1988 and I bought a copy as I remembered how much I used to love animation. It blew my socks off, I was so happy to have access to animation again and animation has become the active cornerstone of my artistic career ever since. Never looked back, never needed a different subject, never followed any changing fashions, it was all here for me.
And Pinocchio is one of the best with animated scenes that are just jaw dropping in quality.

These are just a few of the things that kickstarted my artistic journey and set me on my course, for better or worse, to being an artist