Have you always lived in Yorkshire?
I was born in Keighley at the end of the war. My father was from the south of England but my mother was from Keighley. After the war ended, we moved down to Sussex but having relations in Keighley I would visit them quite a lot, so I can say that I’m a Yorkshireman at heart. I always wanted to move back to Yorkshire. I think it was in the blood right from the outset and when I was able, I did that.

What were your family like?
My father was a carpenter and joiner and was a very prolific sportsman and in fact most of my memories of my father were going to watch him play cricket or football. He was very much a man’s man and I don’t think I’ve inherited much of that. But he was a big influence and taught me how to stand on my own two feet. He was a very courteous man and a very gentle man with a wonderful sense of humour.
My father was good at drawing and my mother went to Art School in Keighley, although she never actually progressed with it. I’ve got some very early watercolours that she did.

You went to school in Sussex. What kind of a pupil were you?
Oh, as I am now, I think I was lazy. I was only good at the things I was interested in. I don’t think I was a dunce in any way but all my academic failures were due to the fact that I just wouldn’t work at subjects. I liked sport and played a lot of Rugby Union and I did quite a lot of boxing. I did athletics and played cricket but drawing was always my first love. In fact my mother still has some drawings that I did when I was 2 or 3 years old so I think in my mind I always wanted to be an artist. Certainly that desire grew stronger the older I got.

What did you do when you left school?
I left school when I was 16 and circumstances at home dictated that I wasn’t able to go to art school, so I had to get a job and I worked for a while in London, for British Transport Advertising. They were instrumental in putting all the posters on buses and railway stations and although I had a very lowly Clerks job, I used to go up to the Drawing Offices and see what the Commercial Artists were up to. I then applied to join the Police Cadet Service, as it looked a better option at the time and joined the Sussex Police. I stayed in Sussex for a couple of years and then when I could join the regular Police Force, I decided that I would join what was then the old West Riding force and moved up to Wakefield, and went on to do my training in Yorkshire.

Were you able to carry on with your drawing?
My joining the Police force meant that I wasn’t able to do too much drawing, not initially anyway. I suppose someone spotted that I could draw a bit and I started doing artist’s impressions and became the Force Artist, which meant that I did scale plans for major incidents, and produced designs for recruiting brochures. I was responsible for all the ordinance survey maps for the Force so that kept my artistic side ticking over. In the meantime, I had started riding motorcycles, which is my other passion, and went on to the Traffic Division. Traffic Officers drove cars most of the time and if they had a motor cycle license, which I had, would take the bikes out when they were needed. I’ve always had motorcycles and still do. Then in the early 70’s, we formed a motorcycle training scheme in the Wakefield area, and partly as a result of that, the Institute of Advanced Motorists approached me when they wanted to run tests for motorcyclists. That led me to doing more advanced training, but that was outside the Police Force. In 1997, I was approached by Honda, who were setting up Advanced Training for people who were buying high powered motorcycles, so for 5 years worked as an advanced instructor for Honda. I also wrote for a number of motorcycle magazines and had a motoring slot on Pennine Radio.

You were awarded the MBE. How did that come about?
It was awarded to me in December 1999 – the Millennium Honours - for services to road safety. It was to do really with the motor cyclist training that I’ve been doing over the years and for the work as an examiner for the Institute of Advanced Motorists. It was a great honour to be recognised for that but like most things, I couldn’t have done it without the support of my wife and a team of dedicated instructors.

When did you start painting watercolours?
About 5 years before I retired from the Police Force, I started thinking about what I might want to do when I left. I’d been collecting early English and Victorian water colours for some years and I thought it would be nice really to teach myself to paint in what is quintessentially a very English medium. When I retired from the Police Force in the nineties, the painting took over full time.
So no-one taught you how to paint in watercolours. You’re self taught completely?
Well, I got a couple of books from the library on how to paint in watercolours, which gave me a grounding. I also studied the watercolours that I had and tried, just by observation to emulate the techniques that those artists had used. Trial and error I suppose, but as time goes by you make fewer errors and find it works. Painting is a very observational pastime and you really need to look and look to see how the light plays on different surfaces and how it all fits into the landscape. General landscape painting is what I like best and Yorkshire is such a fabulous place to paint. But I do paint other subjects and also paint occasionally in other mediums.

Once you’d started painting, how did you become so successful?
The first exhibition that I had was with someone that I worked with in the Police Force, who painted in watercolour as well. We were talking one day and decided to have an exhibition. We exhibited our paintings at the Art of Oak Gallery in Wakefield and the show was very successful. I think we were both quite surprised. I started exhibiting at large art shows and submitted paintings to the Yorkshire Watercolour Society, who turned me down initially. I tried again and was successful, eventually becoming Chairman. As I became better known, I started meeting and painting with top professional artists like David Curtis and Trevor Chamberlain. This was a tremendous boost for me and led me to exhibiting in a number of London venues. But my heart has always been in Yorkshire, and so it was a great honour when I was approached in 2005, by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, to produce an exhibition for that greatest of all events, the Great Yorkshire Show.

How did you become involved in Yorkshire Life?
When I was Chairman of the Yorkshire Watercolour Society, the then Editor of Yorkshire Life, Sarah Todd, wrote saying that she thought it would be nice if members of the Watercolour Society occasionally did paintings for the magazine, so the Secretary wrote to all the members suggesting this and there were no takers – I just couldn’t believe it, nobody really wanted to be involved so I said, “Well, I’ll do it” and so it developed from there, and it’s a monthly thing now. Its good publicity and people think it’s all I do but it’s only part.

Do you paint in situ?
Not as much as I’d like. I did when I first started and still like to but unfortunately, it’s more of a luxury these days because the amount of work that I’ve got to get through dictates that I just go to places, make a few quick sketches, maybe take a few photographs and use that medium to produce the paintings. But ideally and whenever I can I’ll paint on location because it’s so spontaneous.

You say that illustrating Yorkshire Life is only part of what you do?
Well, I accept commissions and paint for exhibitions and general sales. I’ve just got a little private gallery in Aberford, which is in the basement of a large house and the work that I put in the Gallery is work that I’ve wanted to do. It’s the difference between doing commercial work and having an eye on selling and just painting purely what I want to paint.

What is your personal achievement that you’re most proud of?
I think being accepted by the art fraternity and being acknowledged by my peers. Having started so late in life in painting, I’m very proud of the fact that I’ve come a long way in a short time really, when most people would be thinking about packing up work altogether

What are your aspirations, what are you hoping still to achieve?
Ninety nine per cent of what I do is watercolour but I do occasionally paint in oil or acrylics. It might be that I want to develop that. I’ve got a notion at the moment to paint some really big watercolours. I’m never satisfied with what I’ve done. You’re only ever as good as your last painting so I’m always striving to achieve a little bit more.

Which artist do you admire most?
Overall John Singer Sargent is my favourite all time artist. I certainly have a feeling for Victorian painters. I’m influenced by Yorkshire artists as well, especially the Staithes Group. Arthur Reginald Smith, who was a Dales painter, is a big influence and also people I paint with who have influenced me and given tremendous encouragement.

What advice would you give to people who feel they’d like to make a career in painting or simply for pleasure?
Like anything else in life, it’s the preparation that’s the main thing, so I think you’ve got to get a good grounding in drawing. I believe drawing is fundamental to all art; you need that to build on. So work at drawing and also be observant. Be prepared for rejection but believe in yourself. You’ve got to have that single mindedness to want to achieve. Never think that you’re good enough and never ever be satisfied. If you feel you’re getting into a rut, try different styles. Painting isn’t easy and it’s like anything else that’s worthwhile, you’ve got to work at it.

By Helen Chant