I was born in Newlyn in 1974 and went to Tolcarne and Mounts Bay.

Growing up I always had a keen interest in the harbour; playing there as a boy I used to draw the boats that came and went landing their fish.  My father, who himself is an artist, would have been my biggest critic, praising or criticizing as he saw fit as well as being my endless source of art materials.

I had never intended to go to sea but after a short time at boatbuilding college i gave into the lure of the money my friends were making and went to sea. I'd done several trips on beam trawlers before but hated it, so I decided to try netting, starting on a boat called the Confide which can still be seen at Lands End on display after she was decommissioned. Wreck netting I enjoyed; we would shoot 3-400 yards of gill net with an anchor and a marker at each end over an old wreck and leave it 8- 10 hours. Then it was hauled back hopefully full of fish, I loved the job.

I moved onto several boats from there, working my way up and gaining cofidence and experience as I went. I was also turning out paintings of the local boats for the fishermen around Newlyn in my spare time or when the weather was bad. My last berth in Newlyn was the Arbageergan, which is now a houseboat in Penzance.

She was a happy boat for me though hard work, we would hake fish in the winter and tuna fish in the summer. She was also the first boat to bring me to Ireland, landing in Baltimore in 1994. I fell in love with the place, so it's no surprise that on my 23rd birthday I packed up and moved over to Dunmore East where a friend of mine was already working.

I loved my 8 years here, the pubs, the scenery and the people still make it a very special place for me. I tried different methods of fishing here, mid water trawling for herring and seining all the while producing paintings in my spare time ashore and out of the pub. I shared an exhibition with some other artists in the village, to raise money for a memorial to be built to fishermen lost at sea ,unfortunately several friends names have been added to it since.

The last 3 years in Ireland I wasn’t really there much as I was off around the world travelling, but on returning to Dunmore I found it to be very quiet and the fishing too, so I went home. When and where I spawned the idea for a houseboat I have no idea, but to cut a long story short, after several months searching and several mishaps I bought an old trawler called the Saint Therese.

More commonly known as the Arkincstle, she was built in Baltimore in 1975 to fish for herrings and by all accounts did very well. She's 70 feet long and very stocky in build, built to carry a large bulk of fish in her hatch. In the last 12 months Ii’ve ripped out all the rotten timbers from her hatch and accomodation and built a bedroom in the stern for myself and my girlfriend Hayley who has been an absolute rock of support to me.

I hope to build an art studio on her deck next year but at the moment her wheelhouse is my studio, and will have to do for now.

I hope to come ashore next year and concentrate solely on my art, living and working on my boat full time, maybe just doing the odd trip for inspiration.