Arts Bank

David was born in Nottingham in 1948.

Having left school at 16, he turned down an apprenticeship, and started a graphic design course at Nottingham Art College. After two terms of struggling with finance, the culture and the system, he left and took various manual jobs, then joined the police in 1973.

David painted when he could, through to retirement after 25 years as a constable. Then, attracted by the light and colour of Cornwall, he moved there and took painting seriously: harbours, boats and fishermen. David’s paintings began to sell, but he could not settle. He realized he was missing the north, its changing seasons, frosty mornings, even the industrial landscapes.

North Yorkshire drew David back, and is shaping his painting as he begins to understand what inspires him. It is man’s work in the landscape - fishing and farming, making a living, making a home. Houses, harbours and boats, farms and fields in the vastness of the moor, and the colours. Bleached grass, slate blue water, red roofs, golden stone.                    

David has grown to love this area, and finds a joy in simply being here, and painting the scenes he loves.