Some things became apparent at an early age, perhaps a gift for music for example, well for me it was love of drawing and painting. Even at kindergarten my first report recognised I had a natural affinity with painting, although of course in those days it was somewhat of a basic style.

It's easy with hind sight to look back and put the pieces of the jigsaw together, however as time unfolds at a slower rate and without the luxury of knowing where everything fits sometimes the bits get fragmented and take a while to pull together - This theory I applied to my art in my early years.

During my schooling my art work was more or less ignored by teachers and even more so whilst attending comprehensive school (high school). By this time I was already producing a large quantity of my own abstract style work at home but sadly it did not fall within the school curriculum for examination and so I got entered at a lower level for my art exam. My parents supplied me with endless pads of paper for me to fill, in fact any scrap of paper would be subjected to one of my own designs. I was almost obsessed by symmetrical shapes and designs for a period of time. My parents got me a toy called an Etch-a-sketch for drawing, I literally used it until it was totally worn out at which point they invested in another for me to use (and they weren’t cheap back in those days).

My sister worked in “Burtons” a menswear store and she used to bring me home the card from old sales promotion window displays. I would draw on the backs on them, they were a great treat as I loved using card, it made my drawing feel more important. My dad would give me old sales order books from his works to draw in, basically they could not keep up with my demand for paper !

I must always thank my parents and family for allowing me to paint and draw without limits or questions no matter how weird my designs as they had not seen anything like them before either.

In my finals few months at school (16yrs old) whilst completing a number of art pieces towards my final exam one teacher by chance spotted a piece of my abstract work and after checking with the head allowed me to enter a similar one for examination,all be it not the norm and it was half expected to get chucked out due to non compliance.

I received the highest grade possible in my entry level, it then became obvious I should have been given the opportunity to study at the higher entry level but of course by then it was too late. School days were not good for me and to this day I still have a bitter taste about the experience.

My exam results would not allow me to attend Art college, not that I wanted to as by then I just wanted to escape the education regime completely.

The following period was difficult as I was unemployed for several years. In the early 1980’sjobs were hard to find even with good qualifications. During those years I decided to follow my love of art and attempt to improve my craft all be it in a self taught fashion. At that time I had no knowledge of abstract art and had never seen any real paintings or works of art in galleries or museums so I had nothing to compare or aspire to. I just did my own thing and tried to do the best I could in my art work, one thing I had no shortage of was time. I have no regrets about that period, I spent 5 years painting on the dining room table, trying out new techniques and experimenting with my art, no masterpieces were produced but then that wasn’t the aim.

In those days we had no internet or means to learn stuff apart from books (which were too expensive and to be honest I found boring) but there was one TV show I loved.It was called “Paint along with Nancy”. I loved this show as the artist “Nancy”was great fun, she made painting look so easy and encouraged everyone to have ago if they felt like it. This is something I hope I have taken in as well. Most importantly though she was (and still is) a good painter, she taught the basics on how to use paint, scale up work, give perspective and all the basic tools that were required, nothing fancy just a lot of common sense and practical advice. In each episode she would complete a painting from start to finish.

A few years back I discovered Nancy Kominsky was still alive and kicking, living in London. I would love to meet her in person and thank her for the inspiration she gave me.I did get in contact by e-mail though and was chuffed to receive a very warm and encouraging reply from her, one of the things I will always treasure.

Throughout my working life in offices which started proper at the age of 20 yrs I have always maintained an interest in my painting. To be exact it’s been more than an interest and I have staged several solo exhibitions and sold a decent quantity of work over the years but not enough to live on by any means, more a case of famine or feast.

A few good people have encouraged me along the way and given me a little push and enthusiasm tot ravel further along my path. To those of you I offer my thanks, mainly my ex work colleagues who eventually get to know me a bit better and realise I have a talent which I am trying to make the best of.

My ultimate goal is to be recognised as a quality British Artist of my time. I continue to paint most nights into the small hours whilst listening to music. I get to escape to a better place, I’m finding this 21^st century isn’t what it was cracked up to be and times are very tough at the moment, just as when I first started out. It is a tad depressing but then that’s when great paintings are produced.

In reality few people are really interested in reading about any modern day artists unless there is a shock element which always grabs the headlines sadly. The end result (the work) should be the most important thing. However in this age of computers, mass production and living in an age where peoples attention span is measured in seconds, rest assured old fashion artists do still exist. I think I may be one of them. I paint because I love to, it’s part of my make up, my life and my duty to an extent. We all need to escape to another world now and then and painting is my route to that special place.

Thank you for taking time to read. I offer you my best wishes.

Vik