Ron

Ron’s earliest memory of art was being physically punished by a nun at a catholic nursery, slapped on the knuckles with a wooden ruler for drawing with a pencil after being told to use a crayon.  He said  ‘I found a pencil easier - it would do what I wanted and crayons were too big! Since that time, I have been suspicious of those preaching peace and conformity through violence, though I was very young, it is a memory that has stuck, violence does that to you.’

Art, he says, has always been with him.   He has always drawn and made things, always seen shapes and objects in shadows and has always been an observer of people and colour of the mundane. ‘There has never been a question of how I got into art, more, how and why I avoided it when I did and do. Survival is a cruel mistress that drives a bitter and twisted satnav!’

When I asked him about he influences on his work he said it was a tricky question to answer ‘I love colour, I love contrast and details, I love expression and people, I love theatre and film, I love music, energy and the observation of emotion. I have been extremely privileged to have worked with heroes like Terry Brain and Dave Borthwick, people who oozed emotion and were a joy to work with, something I feel maybe the nuns took from me. Art is an outlet where you can express what is uncomfortable in normal life, I'm not sure I do this, but it is in us all and whether that emotion transfers is not for me to judge, but there is usually more than surface paint in a picture.’