Biography

Being a late starter at the age of 26, Rob gave up a carrer selling wine and, without any formal training, decided to devote his time to painting and sculpture. Having acquired some basic practice at evening classes and visiting museums, he set off to paint in France for six months.

On returning to London he worked on producing a collection of bronzes and began to take portrait commissions. As well as selling his other work, he started to receive more and more requests for his portraits in oil, pastels or bronze.

At the beginning of 1995, he suffered a very serious car crash, which forced him to take a few months out. After this unexpected break, he decided to try his luck in New York where he was immediately recruited by Portraits Inc, America's leading portrait company. Back in London, he started sell sculpture through the Cadogan contemporary gallery in London.

Since 1999, due to demand, he has concentrated almost entirely on portrait and sculpture commisssions, many of which come from the US. Typically, Rob produces between 70 and 90 portraits per annum.

Rob likes to work from life whenever possible, but is able to work from photographs when neccesary. The underlying strength of his portraits arises from his ability to capture the very essence of people using subtle tones, colour and light. There is a sense of the people in Rob's work being very alive as well as completely natural and uniquely individual. One is immediately drawn to the eyes and the soul within. In addition to portraits he find time, whenever possible, to produce his own work, drawing in charcoal/pastels, painting in oils or making bronze sculpture.

Having just acquired a central London studio, he hopes to produce much more work from life, with clients coming to him and thus reducing the dependence on photographs.

DCB June 2005