Tom Penny Painting

As early as I can remember I have always enjoyed drawing and creating art. In 1984 I found Lincolnshire a very beautiful and picturesque place it had many landscapes which helped inspire me to draw and sketch the countryside which started me on my artist journey. In 1989 my family decided to move across England to Shropshire. At the William Brooke’s school which I attended the teachers encouraged me to pursue my artist talents. Then I decided to study at the Shrewsbury College of arts and technology in 1996 and left in 1999 with a Btec National diploma in arts and technology and an A-level in Fine art with history. I found the art history module fascinating because of all the different painting styles and techniques throughout the ages. I took this new found knowledge and put it into my own work but was getting more into photography at the time because of my interests in skateboard and snowboard photography in magazines. So I concentrated on being a professional photographer for about 3 years, which was going well until my camera bag stolen with a very expensive camera and all my 24+ films from my snowboarding travels around europe.This left me questioning a lot of things? Why did thids happen and what I am doing wrong in life? At Galstonbury festival I got handed a bible by a Gideon and became a Christian soon after. I quit smoking cigarettes and started my running again which was incredibly difficult at first because of 4 years of smoking had weakened my lungs but I stuck to it even after finishing 2nd to last in my first race back. In the winter of 2000-01 I went to visit my younger brother in Bourg St. Maurice for a holiday. James was a sponsored snowboarder and British under 20s dry slope champion. I took advantage of the sparse landscape and did 3 months running training and then returned to my parents in the South West of France in the February of that year. I entered a 10k road race and finished 3rd out of 200+ people. This encouraged me a lot and I felt lead into trying to pursue a career in athletics. After a long hiatus as an artist because I wanted to become professional runner and study for a Bsc in PE teaching and sport science. In 2011 I started to do my art work again when a friend suggested be a good idea and perhaps I could sell some of my work too help me out with living costs as a student. So I bought a sketchbook and started drawing again. I went on walks down the River Thames towards Richmond sketching wild flowers and swans.