Journeys End Print

Christmas 1962. Wal was 7 and his favourite present was a book given to him by his parents, ‘Ships - A Picture History in Colour’ by G. Fouille. Full of wonderful illustrations that captivated his childish imagination, encouraging him to spend endless hours painting and sketching; copying the detailed illustrations of boating through the ages from an Assyrian galley (700 BC) to the American Ice Breaker (1960). Wal still treasures the well-fingered book and when he flicks through the pages he can still recall the excitement and pleasure of picking up his pencil to start his next sketch. The hours of practise were well spent - he chose to make drawing his career and attended The Laird School of Art in Birkenhead and The Slade School of Fine Art in Liverpool. He has fortunately spent five decades being an Illustrator and a Designer, drawing for a living. Throughout his working life Wal never lost sight of the Artist within. Wal has always admired the great watercolour artists, such as Turner and the particularly wonderful Thomas Girtin. Fast forward 60 years and Wal is once again painting for pleasure... this time, just for himself. He now has the time to indulge his pleasure and this time of course it has to be watercolours, combined with his love of all things nautical. Capturing a mood, a moment in time, perhaps the early morning stillness of a harbour or the watery sunlight breaking through the canal mist, brings the greatest reward. Ships, barges, narrowboats, steam tugs, canals, pilot cutters, this is the subject matter that makes him want to pick up his paintbrush, these are his subjects and his style? Wal is an intuitive painter and his techniques vary. Sometimes free and impressionistic, occasionally indulgent when his love of fine detail gets the better off him. It very much depends on whether he feel 67 or 7 on that particular day.