Born 1951, a victim of love, security and freedom. My dad was a gifted model maker, so there were always tools and wood and glue and things being made. I loved making bows and arrows and tree camps. I didn’t like kits where you had to follow instructions and do things properly.

Trained as a teacher 1969-72, but didn’t last long – because you have to do things properly. By 1975 I was self-employed, making a wide variety of craft goods, including laminated wooden jewellery and wood sculptures. This sustained the body but not always the mind until 1999, when in a fit of adventure I decided to do something useful.

I became a support assistant at South Kent College, and then by way of accident and default a lecturer in Basic Skills. From 2001 I became tutor at the Dover New Start Centre, for groups of excluded 14-16 year olds.

In 2003 I returned to self-employment because I just like making things.

All the timber used in my furniture and sculptures has been found on the beaches of the South Coast, from Kent to Cornwall. Something that I find sparks off an idea, that is added to by bits and pieces lurking in my shed; the accumulation of years of beachcombing. Making the assemblages most clearly expresses my wilful, wee bit obsessive nature.