Blame Jacques Henri Lartigue. It’s all his fault.

I can’t exactly remember the first time I viewed his famous photograph of the French Grand Prix in 1912, (you know the one, oval shaped rear wheels, the blurred background ripped back at a 45-degree angle.)
No, I can’t say exactly when I first saw that image but it certainly left its mark.

I’m not sure what it is about all the photos taken on those big old plate cameras of cars moving at the turn of the last Century but they all seem to capture the frightening yet exciting sense of speed so well. More accident than planned? I like to think that the Lartigue photograph was a combination of a great eye and a sharp brain.

That single image is always the first one I think of when people ask about my obsession in searching for speed in my work.
As for the first time I tried to capture fast movement in one of my sculptures? I admit it not to be an accident. I’ve spent a fair old time (like every other artists) searching for a unique style. So have I achieved it? 

Enjoy the images held within this site and decide for yourself. I hope if a Mr Lartigue was still with us today, he might have enjoyed them as well.

Education? The usual stuff including Art School design nonsense in the mid seventies.

This was followed by twenty-five years or so, working as an Art Director in some of the best (and some of the worst) London Ad Agencies. Ended that chapter of my career with a Creative Directorship or two and a fair number of awards.
 
Whilst persuading people to buy stuff they didn’t really need in the ad business, I wrote a monthly column in a leading monthly UK car magazine. I did that for about 12 years. Whilst doing all of the above any other spare time was divided between mucking about with real cars and building small-scale versions. I got rather good at the latter and won lots of contests and awards.

I turned my hand to sculpting proper ten years or so ago. Invented Speed Freaks as a brand (yes it was me!) back in 2002. Started that with limited editions. Then went into business with a mass production company in 2004.

I still create all the originals for the Speed Freaks range, as I believe everyone (no matter how deep their pockets) should be able to buy my work.

Exhibited my Sculptures at all sorts of places over the past few years. From Lord March’s front lawn at the Festival of Speed, at the Retromobile show in Paris and I guess the highlight so far was being invited to display one of my sculptures as part of the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2007.