At One With The Sea

Unique marine art and other works

Hook, Line & A Lot of Colour

I fell for art in the National Gallery—history, colour, light—bang. Back then I was a young police officer facing the harder side of life, and painting became the release I didn’t know I needed.

That spark grew into study: I went on to earn a First, a Master’s with Distinction and a PhD in art history, later working with the Munnings Art Museum and even appearing on Fake or Fortune?.

Now I paint from life along the Tendring coast—Frinton-on-Sea, Harwich and the rivers—chasing changing skies and the lift of the sea. I’m interested in light and colour expressed simply, honestly, and with a bit of breeze still in it. I believe art is for everyone – made to be enjoyed, talked about and lived with.

My Autumn Collection

The Cloud Factory: Sugar Factory, Bury-St-Edmunds

A big factory just off the A14.

View This Piece

Making Ready, Harwich Ferry

Harwich ferry at the jetty getting set to go—yellow hull, gear on deck, dark weather stacking over the harbour.

View This Piece

Early Morning After Harvest, Tendring

Fresh morning light over a stubble field on the Tendring peninsula—round bales, long shadows and a cool blue sky.

View This Piece

The Estates Gate, Dedham

Old iron gate between warm brick pillars and clipped hedging—dappled sun on stone and grass.

View This Piece

Tearooms at Munnings Art Museum, Dedham

Sun on the tearoom lawn at Dedham with a dark sky brewing behind—bright tables, deep shade, and that changeable Stour Valley weather.

View This Piece

Serenity At The Beach, Harwich

Low light on the water at Harwich—soft golden bands of waves with flecks of foam and a quiet path of light to the shore.

View This Piece

Cold Water, Clear Head

Some mornings I meet the coast head-on, even when the water reads 3.5 degrees. The cold wakes everything up: colour sits truer, sound carries, and you notice the small things that matter—the line where the tide turns, a thin lift on the surface, the quick change when a cloud moves.

That sharpness is what I try to keep in my work. I don’t chase grand views; I want Frinton-on-Sea, Harwich and the rivers between as they are—light, colour and weather, without fuss. Sometimes that means a bright band on the horizon, sometimes a quieter day when the sea barely speaks.

Either way, the aim is simple: honest painting that feels like being there. If a piece puts you back on the shore for a moment, that’s the job done.