I am a novice artist who picked up pencil and paintbrush for the first time after moving to Silverdale a few years ago. After a lifetime living in the inner city and working professionally in construction the startling beauty and infinite variety of the natural environment jolted my creative juices into life. I wanted to capture impressions without a camera between me and what I observed so started with night classes for drawing which unexpectedly opened up painting in oil. I moved on to a studio group and the Silverdale Art Group where the encouragement and guidance has been inspiring and of enormous practical help. I aim to capture impressions and have concentrated on landscapes in oil and more recently been working on sketches in charcoal.