Duma Key Island (inspired by Stephen King's story) Painting

I have spent the last decade painting traditionally with oil paints, studying art and writing. I live in the gorgeous cosmopolitan city of London. Ever since I was a child, art has been one of the greatest ways to express myself. When I was three, my best friends were tiny sculptures that I would mould out of play dough. Later they were replaced by figures on paper. And upon finding canvases and oil paints, I felt I had finally found myself as an artist. The current direction of my art is painting surrealistic compositions and portraits in oil. My paintings blend reality with dreams, illogical, unnerving scenes with everyday objects, fear and pain with soft, welcoming faces. The paintings absorb the idea of madness and attempt to analyse the unconscious mind. In addition to my subconscious I am also strongly influenced by literature. I admire such authors as Erich Maria Remarque, Albert Camus, Hermann Hesse, Stephen King, John Connolly, Ian Rankin, Stephen Leather, James Patterson amongst many others. This is the reason why I can call myself an illustrator as well as a painter. I believe art has to affect the audience. If life is full of beauty, love, horror and pain, why should art be any different?