Aldeburgh Orphan

I was at grammar school in the 1960s – we were expected to become scientists, lawyers, doctors and mathematicians – not artists!  We did very little art and I don’t remember being taught any technique.

This is my first complete painting.  I created it as an adult knowing absolutely nothing about art, apart from the memory of some words my brother, an art teacher, uttered to me… “use all the paper”.

I started big, using all the paper!  Although the boat sits very high, I think the foreground pulls it back down and the distant sea helps ground it even more.  It seemed I had a natural eye, and the success of this first painting inspired me to go on and learn more about art.  This painting is very special to me.

Acrylic on canvas board.