United Kingdom

My lifelong fascination with the sea began on the North East coast of England in the mid-1960s. Growing up beside the North Sea, I became aware of how dramatically light, weather and atmosphere could change from one hour to the next. The shifting colours of the water, the arrival of sea mist and the constant movement of the tides formed the foundation of my understanding of coastal painting and have influenced my work ever since.

Over the decades I have painted many parts of the British coastline, from the rugged cliffs of Yorkshire to the sweeping beaches of Northumberland and onwards around the shores of Scotland. The North Sea, with all its changing moods, taught me that the coastline is never truly the same twice. A calm morning can become a storm-filled afternoon, and a grey horizon can suddenly be transformed by a shaft of sunlight breaking through the clouds.

Among the locations that have inspired my paintings are Bamburgh Castle, the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Dornoch, Fife, Ardnamurchan and Sanna Bay on Scotland's west coast. I have painted these places in every season and in all kinds of weather, seeking to capture not simply their appearance but the atmosphere that makes each moment unique.

Wherever I work in the United Kingdom, I find myself drawn back to the ocean. The movement of the water, the subtle variations in colour and the way descending mist can blur the boundary between sea and sky continue to fascinate me. Norfolk's vast beaches at Holkham and Brancaster offer another kind of drama, with immense skies, towering clouds and rapidly changing weather creating endless opportunities for seascape painting.

For me, the British coastline has always been a study of light and atmosphere. Sunrises viewed from a harbour wall, sunsets seen from a boat offshore, and the ever-changing relationship between sea, sky and weather have provided a constant source of inspiration throughout my career. This collection of original United Kingdom oil paintings represents more than sixty years of observing the coast in all its moods and celebrating the timeless beauty of the seas that first inspired me to paint.