Statement: As an artist from a working class background, I have always felt somewhat of an Outsider in the contemporary art world and this is reflected in my choice of image. I paint people on the edge of society, often struggling to fit in. I try to circumnavigate the usual art bullshit and create direct and passionate imagery which will connect with a wide audience.

For the past few years I have been painting urban tableaux derived from real street incidents and characters. These pictures have been a bit too strong for the usual commercial galleries and buyers, who seem to prefer their shocks to be intellectual rather than visceral.

Charity Shop (notes on the painting): It was a real incident. I was in a charity shop, when this bloke came in. He was screaming obscenities into a mobile and sweating. He was carrying cans of Tennents and sweating, and was obviously on something. He was very agitated. The words that are written on the painting are what he said to the woman behind the counter in the charity shop. After he'd left the shop, the woman behind the counter was quite shaken up, and I said I would paint it - it's the type of thing I paint. She looked at me as if I was mad. It just one of those sharp emotional urban moments that I paint.

Born: 10.4.58, Sheffield.
Education: Myers Grove Comprehensive, Sheffield; North East London Polytechnic (BA Fine Art).
Exhibitions: Open Space Gallery, London; Museum of London; ICA New Contemporaries; Alternative Arts, London; Battersea Arts Centre, London; ACAVA Central Space, London; Candid Gallery, London; Dock Street Galleries, London; Cleveland Gallery; Wolsey Art Gallery, Ipswich; Philip Graham Gallery, London; West Soho Gallery, London; The Worx, London; William Jackson Gallery, London; Phoenix Arts Centre, Leicester; Whitechapel Open, London; Air Gallery, London.
Publications: 'From the Street: paintings and drawings' (Editions Aubrey Walter); 'The Sexual Perspective' (Routledge); 'Damn Fine Art' (Cassell).
Collections: Museum of London, private collections.