Winter morning Painting

Studied painting, ceramics and sculpture at Norwich College of Art, graduating in 1951. For a while he painted scenery at the Maddermarket Theatre in Norwich but soon found himself in advertising as an Art Director. First in Newcastle, then in Leeds (his home town) and then in London, where he worked for several world-renowned agencies. In 1964 he and his family moved to Brussels. As an Art Director, then Creative Director and later Managing Director, he worked mostly for international clients which eventually took him back to London in 1978 as European Co-ordinator. He, and his wife Erna, have lived and worked in London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris and Oslo, moving from country to country aboard their Dutch sailing barge. They have cruised in the North Sea, the Baltic and European waterways which brought them to Sète in 1993. In 1996, after 30 years afloat, Erna and Tony bought an old 'bergerie', just 5kms across the Etang de Thau from Sète, where he set up his studio. For many years, traditional sailing vessels were the subject of his paintings which were exhibited extensively. But his work was more and more influenced by the colours, light and atmosphere of the South, and has evolved through changes in subject matter, becoming increasingly simple in form. Abstraction has finally given him a new platform to express his joy with the colour and light around him.