The processof drawing has always been a natural process for me and provided me with a means to develop my ideas. Even as a child I was attracting attention from people who made a fuss of the fact that I could make art so easily.

I thought it the most natural thing to draw people and remember early on wondering why others wouldn't get on with it as it was the best way to do it.

The process of failing while trying is the best teacher I realise now, so I encourage my students and other people that I coach to step off the edge and not be afraid to fail. Some people are more naturally gifted than others but others move ahead on sheer drive and unwavering determination.

Good work is also found through researching other people whose work turns you on. The old masters still reveal a lot of clues and can be inspirational. However, they need to be re-examined in current contemporary life.

My own training started in the mid '60s and I still carry within my work traces of that era. They appear out of place to some people, yet to others they reveal something of my personality and my background.

I attended Camberwell Art College during the summer session of 1965-66 as a part-time student and still see that as a milestone in my artistic maturity. I was recommended by my art teacher who I met again after leaving school. He expressed his disgust when I told him I joined the army even though I told him I had an apprenticeship, he told me he thought I was wasting my talent.

Q: You've had other careers before becoming a full-time painter, even though you've always had a love of painting. What got you sidetracked into those other careers, or is sidetracked too strong a word?

A: My parents left the Caribbean in the late '50s for England and I was expected to become something worthy in the land of opportunity. The title of 'artist' just didn't fit the designation 'worthy'.

I was recruited into the Royal Engineers in the summer of 1966 with the promise of a full apprenticeship with full pay and possibilities of travel and promotion. I still regard the seven years I spent there some of the most exciting and adventurous of my life.

I left as a qualified welder, sheet metal worker and metal fabricator, a radio operator, bridge builder and with various expertise in things I would rather not go into.

I worked in London for a short while before coming to Bermuda where I once again found myself in uniform. All through these years I held the arts close to my heart and continued to develop my skills by way of courses and workshops through my spare time.

The highlight of these years is still the galleries in the great cities I visited. When I realise that this great art lasted for at least 500 years in some cases they made me want to re-enter the fray. That time came in 1996 when I re-entered the art world in real time, doing an undergraduate degree in art research and art history.

No, 'sidetracked' isn't too strong a word as I found many mature people in college who had been sidetracked by life and found their way back in their senior years. We all had the same story, almost. Jobs, children, marriage, death in the family, mortgage, etc, etc, etc. We took comfort in each others' woes even while providing a form of stability within our younger peer group.

The studies gave me a broader understanding of my art, plus a degree I coveted. So you could say I am back on track.

Q: I think I'm correct in saying that you've exploded onto the art scene comparatively recently. How did you make the breakthrough?

A: I think that through the years I never completely let go of my desire. I sketched my cohorts in barracks, did drawings of their wives, children and girlfriends for a quid (pound) or so ? even for the price of a bottle of scotch which I used to love but I wouldn't go near now.

I digress. People never knew me as an artist, even some close friends. They are still surprised at the things I produce even after the last ten years of work. I think I hid my work because people used to do a number on my head as critique.

They hadn't a clue. So now I feel a responsibility to provide as informed a critique as I can in order to help aspiring artists to develop their skills. The last ten years have been exciting and I continue to grow, I continue to do workshops and to do exhibitions. Still, the critics haven't gone away. I persist.

Q: What inspires you to paint? You're known for your narrative compositions, which is something different in an island full of landscape painters. Now you're moving into portraiture. Why? It's not a genre that many artists seem to focus on. What's your philosophy as an artist?

A: The portrait has always been foremost in my art. I admire mostly the great portraitist; too numerous to list. Yet I must single out Johannes Vermeer and the great Carravagio ? Michelangelo Merici. Their portraiture and the living narrative they painted are as vibrant today as they were five hundred years ago.

The tradition of landscape painting is well established throughout the world and still holds an attraction for many. Bermuda lends itself to that process with our pastel houses and azure skies and I think will long do so.

I, however, hold the portrait even closer now than I ever did and the narrative of life in Bermuda still reveals a rich tapestry from which to pick choose and paint. There are also things about Bermuda that people don't want to touch on that I wish to explore. I will persist.

Q: So where do you see your art going?

A: More portraits, more research, more teaching, more travel, more workshops. I will be searching for more ideas through talking to people and transcribing their stories with paint.

Bermudians love to talk and their use of the English language is rich in living metaphors. I want to turn them into books, so illustration is possibly in the future. I have a collaboration coming up with a well- known Bermudian writer this year ? I'll fill you in as things develop.

Q: Can you tell us more about your new studio and planned art classes?

A: Yes, of course, I have taught many art classes over the years, I even taught while I was studying at Kent Institute of Art and Design in England they loved it and it gave me a confidence to teach other workshops.

I teach part-time at Warwick Academy with much success and actually look forward to delivering a new lesson plan each term. I taught as a stand-in lecturer at the Bermuda College a few years ago, again with much satisfaction.

Yes, I have built an art studio at my home and friends and artists are now asking about art lessons. I have to take it a step at a time as things are finishing up at the moment and I have to make lesson plans to meet a broad range of abilities and to help people to develop their ideas ? not just when they are with me but also while they are alone. That's a tall order, but it's doable.

Q: On a general level, how important is art in the community? Some might argue that it's just a waste of time. How does it contribute to our everyday lives?

A: Those who argue that it is a waste of time usually keep away from me as I never hear from them. I personally can't imagine life without the arts because art is everywhere. I don't think I have ever been in a building in Bermuda where there is no art.

Even the buildings are works of art. I believe that Bermudian architecture is Bermuda's foremost art. A study of Bermudian architecture is a study of our progress since 1609.

Unless we want to go back to living in Crystal Caves we have to keep on encouraging our artists to develop their skills. Just like singing, poetry, sports or violence for that matter; art is a means of expression and I don't see too many artists involved in violent behaviour throughout this community. We are too busy making progress.

Q: Following on from that ? you mentioned that you worked in the Prison Service. The BSoA currently has an exhibition of work by Westgate inmates. What do you think of the show and do you see it as an example of the positive contribution art can make to people's lives?

A: Yes, I served 21 years in HM Prisons Bermuda and the Bermuda Department of Corrections and saw many changes there.

One of the constants I observed was, and still is, the proclivity that Bermudians have for making cedar artwork. I have several pieces myself and I treasure themas they are lasting memories throughout some tough timesand represent gifts of mutual respect despite our differences.

The current show is an example of that progression and I have to pay a tribute to Mr. Chesley Trott for his unwavering faith in providing guidance and a certain vision to the inmates. Mr. Lester Harnett is also at the forefront and brings a lifetime of design and painting skills to the process.

Q: Do you agree that there's a wealth of artistic talent on this island and if so, why do you think that's the case?

A: Yes, of course I agree. I have people bring their portfolio to my house all the time and I lay them out on the floor and marvel at the clarity they display in their ideas. I ask them where they display and they say 'at home' and my heart breaks for them.

I encourage them to join the different galleries around the island and to enter. Some do and some won't, because they don't think that they are part of that 'scene'. I persist.

I also believe that people need an outlet for their energies and just as the running craze, cricket, football, rugby or any other sport provides such an outlet, art can be as laid back or as energetic as one has the capacity, the imagination, the time, the finances and all the other aspects that go into making a piece of art.

Q: In saying that, is there too much art on the island? Is everyone being crowded out by everybody else? There seems to be fewer places in which artists can show their work and nowadays most galleries seem to be holding exhibitions every couple of weeks. Would "less is more" be a better philosophy?

A: Yes, less seems to be more if current trends continue. High increases in rents in Hamilton seem to be the killer for galleries while the artists can't seem to live with the high commission that is necessary to keep the doors open.

The subsidised galleries seem to be doing fine though and long may they do so as we would be a laughing stock without a National Gallery, and I can't imagine going back to life without the Masterworks Collection.

Q: How difficult is it to survive commercially as an artist in Bermuda? How successful / prolific do you have to be in order to make a living? Your own work obviously isn't targeting the tourist market. Do you think artists who do paint in the hope of selling to visitors are selling out and if so, can you blame them?

A: No, I can't blame them! The name of the game has always been survival in Bermuda, even from the beginning. The wreck of the is a classic tale of survival. Today it's economic survival. Bermudians have done a lot worse than selling trinkets to tourists to survive before now, so we have to keep growing yet not lose the level of sophistication that now defines Bermuda.

Yes, you're right about my own art which tends not to have a broad appeal to the tourist market. Yet, some of my best pieces can be found in the US, England, the Caribbean, and a splattering of other locations.

I try to avoid clich?, or pastiche of other times or cultures, instead concentrating on the life around me. People seem to appreciate that and encourage me by buying and offering me commissions while allowing me to paint without interference.

I have developed the instinct to pick out someone who wants to paint a picture vicariously over my shoulder. I have developed the courage to send them to someone else if they persist as it is usually a disaster and they have to take it and it leaves my studio with my name on it. I'm not happy with that.

Q: Do you think the artistic community gets enough support from Government and the corporate world? Is there something more that either group could be doing?

A: There is generous support from Government for the arts. The fact that the National Gallery is at home in City Hall is the best example of patronage for the arts. They keep the lights on and provide homes for three of Bermuda's leading cultural entities.

The corporate world is also well represented as sponsors giving support with millions of dollars. The artists are often heard resenting this as it tends not to reach them by way of any great commissions or grants to do projects.

This is where the drive and determination I spoke of earlier comes in. We persist because it is a primordial response to the world we live in. We, the artists have to make art, I thing we are born to it. It is a world-wide phenomenon that every community on the planet defines themselves by some form of art.

Bermuda is no different; we persist with or without the financial support. That is hard for someone without a love for art to appreciate. We have to find creative ways not only to make art but to market it too.