Is there one particular kind of art that you enjoy most: caricatures, cartoons, portraits and so on?
I had a very enjoyable career as a cartoonist and reportage artist working for national newspapers and television over a 30-year period but I am now concentrating on painting what excites me, writing, designing and illustrating my books.
How long have you been coming to Malta and painting it?
I was fortunate as I first visited Malta in 1976 courtesy of Malta Airways. I had drawn a cartoon for The Times newspaper of Dom Mintoff, the then Prime Minister, as Napoleon kicking the British Bulldog off the island into the Mediterranean Sea. Malta Airways wanted to present it to Dom Mintoff so I exchanged the original cartoon for a return air ticket.
My arrival on the island was love at first sight and I returned home with a portfolio full of enthusiastic paintings and drawings. I have been back many times over the years adding to my portfolio which culminated eventually in a book of Malta and Gozo published by Miller Malta.
'Boats'
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
I suppose originally my art training as a painter and a draughtsman at Wimbledon School of Art and then art movements like the German Expressionists and French Post Impressionists. Not forgetting my father who was an ecclesiastical woodcarver who taught me a love of wood. I have made many wood and bronze sculptures subsequently.
Is there any particular artist or artists, dead or alive, whom you admire?
The artist I most admired was Honoré Daumier. He was a brilliant draughtsman and cartoonist and also a fine satirical painter crossing the divide between cartooning and fine art which is what I have always tried to do. I also enjoy the work of Chaim Soutine and the cartoonist Ronald Searle.
What drives your creative processes?
I enjoy the challenge of making a work of art that expresses my feelings for a subject that I have chosen in an original and creative way. To be able to express your feelings through your art is a wonderful and rewarding gift.
'Victory Day Regatta'
Tell me about your favourite medium...
I don't have a favourite medium as I enjoy using them all, but most of my work is in watercolour, gouache and oil paint. My watercolours are detailed but with my oil paintings I can take a leap and become looser and more expressionistic. Almost two different artists!
I have also made many woodcuts of French artisans.
What are your favourite subjects to paint?
People in their natural landscapes, work and habitats. I love drawing Malta's baroque architecture and also try to include in my paintings local people that I meet on my journeys around the islands.
'View of Mdina'
What are some of the challenges you face as an artist?
I guess that the first challenge is being able to make a living from your art that enables you to produce work that is creative and reaches the highest standard you are capable of.
It is relentless but satisfying!
What has been the most exciting moment of your long career thus far?
One of the most exciting moments was when American CBS News sent me to draw the Courts Martial of the American soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq who were accused of torturing the prisoners. I was the only court artist allowed to draw and the pressures on me were intense. Fortunately I survived with the help of my colleagues!
Do you have a good story regarding your career you would like to share with us?
Probably when the book I had written and illustrated with my paintings of Lyon in France was accepted for sale by the Musée des Beaux Arts, the National Gallery of Lyon. I may not have one of my paintings hanging in the gallery, but my book was on the shelf with the books of the greats.
Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?
Keep working and study the work of the masters.
A few questions so that our readers will get to know you better.
What is your idea of happiness?
A few beers in a pub with family and friends.
What is your greatest fear?
Losing my eyesight.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Always listening to modern jazz and my favourite musicians.
Playing my baritone saxophone.
What is your favourite journey
A trip down to a village in North Devon that our family love.
What is it that you most dislike?
Earl Grey Tea! I prefer Builder's Tea!
Do you have a code that you live by?
Do as you would be done by.