"Jaguar" Painting

I have been creative all my life. As a child I was always drawing and painting on walls, school books, toys and anything I could get my hands on. When I became a teenager I was introduced to Pop Art and Graffiti. I was always interested in the artistic element of graffiti rather than tagging and vandalism.

Once I had finished school I studied Art and Design at Stratford Upon Avon College. At college I began experimenting with different materials and taught myself how to use acrylic paint.

After college I studied Illustration at Birmingham City University. Throughout my studies I ran a side-line business; creating album covers and doing promotional work for rappers and musicians. This evolved into a series of artworks where I tried to merge art and music together visually. I painted portraits of my favourite rap musicians and used my graffiti, fine art and illustration techniques. My work has since been collected and acknowledged by many people in the music industry including Drake, Giggs, Skepta, AJ Tracey and Fredo.

My work is inspired by aspects of contemporary society that catch my interest. Anything from the music I like to listen to, to conservation issues.

Recently, I’ve started a new series of work based around my love of wildlife. Most of these works are based on endangered species and I hope to use my platform to raise awareness of each animal. Each painting from the series includes a more abstract and expressive style compared to my previous work. I use bright and bold colours along with dripping paint to signify the decline in population of the endangered animals, as if they were melting away or fading away.

I use a mix of media when I’m working; acrylics, spray paint, resin, varnishes, pencil, chalk … even gold leaf. I never throw things away if they can be put to a good purpose. Even my old, scuffed-up brushes find a second use in simulating fur and hair.