So, who am I?

Simple things first, I'm the one on the left of the photo :-) 

Born in the wild and beautiful county of Northumberland, England a few (although not too many) years ago, my story begins a long way from where I am sitting while typing this.

From a young age an appreciation of my surroundings and consequent desire to represent these through my own hand led to a strong interest in the world of art and the many mediums available. The initial apex of these interest, in my early teenage years, leading to many a long session of sitting around with a black fibre tip pen, attempting to immortalize on paper the scene before me through ink sketches.

Like most 'youngsters' as time goes by and circumstances change, then so does our focus and our interest. Sketching gave way to learning to drive, playing golf, and 'socializing'. An early desire to study art at University gave way to more 'practical' thinking, and although the odd pencil drawing and water colour were produced during my three years at The University of Newcastle, my creative urges had now become substantially more sporadic.

In the subsequent years following graduation, between finding work and enjoying my 'leisure time', it seemed that my initial desire to capture the moment through any means had all but gone.

In 2002 (wow, that long ago), my better half pried, the then young, Northumbrian country boy out of his native wilderness to the somewhat different climes of Spain, and the extremely different city of Madrid. As with most young English speakers, it wasn't long before I was working as an English teacher in Berlitz.

The combination of obtaining a slightly better understanding of my own language, and copious amounts of time on public transport while travelling from one point of the city to another, reignited that creative fire, albeit through a different  medium, that of writing.  This new-found urge to 'leave my mark' coincided rather conveniently with the boom of digital cameras, although at that time they were merely a tool for recording memories of holidays and the like.

As my career in Berlitz progressed, my writing became an essential tool, and short stories gave way to workshops and seminars, which in turn lead to text books and teachers' guides. This shift in content allowed my creativity to branch into the realms of design, and it seemed the path was now laid out.

The final piece of the puzzle fell into place in 2011 with the birth of my son, James (so now you know who is wearing the hat), and it was soon apparent that a more substantial camera was needed to be able to document the progress of our newly increased family, and to allow me to attempt to capture my two 'worlds' (Spain and the UK) with more creativity than before. A decision which was aided greatly by my old school friend and professional photographer, Andy Gray (who, it must be said, was a little taken aback by the fact I chose a different 'religion', that of Canon, to his own)

So, this more or less takes us to today. My creative urges are catered for both by my writing and designing of published text books for the company I work for, Berlitz, and recently found love of photography of all types.