Brian Ward

Biography

I’m just a hobbyist painter really. No lengthy palmares just a couple of shows with my local club. After a lifetime in Production, Health & Safety & Environmental Management I retired from full time employment to while away the hours doing exactly,……. well…….. what I choose to do. The transfer wasn’t difficult as I already had an array of interests to pursue but I have to say art didn’t figure amongst them. Oh I liked art as a schoolboy & dreamed of going to art college until my careers advisor put me straight. He took the pragmatic view & more or less said, “Stop being a plank, how many Picassos do you know from Sheffield?” I had to admit I couldn’t name one. So I found a real job but my interest in art hadn't been completely dented. As a teenager I took up oil painting for a couple of years & tried watercolours but made a complete hash of it. Life took over but after my abject failures with watercolours I’d decided in retirement I would give it another go. At 69 I acquired some paintbrushes, joined my local art society, took some guided tuition and a couple of workshops & here I am. Besides being more able to professionally critique my abject failures, I can now learn from them & develop my passion for painting rubbish. (Well, old rusty stuff and the like) So far I am limited to the medium of watercolour but the journey is so fascinating I cannot imagine drifting into other mediums for some time yet.