I also like painting animals. I paint in acrylic and consider myself more of an illustrator than a fine artist. Detail fascinates me; this usually makes my art expression intricate.

At Otago Boys’ High School, I took art and won an Art Society prize for a pencil drawing of a wine bottle and a very heavily embossed wine glass. The previous year’s winner became a commercial artist, so the standard was high. In my teenage years, my model-making hobby gave me a very accurate knowledge of drawing sailing ships and rigging, which also feature in my work. For a while, I did some pencil drawings, but life got very busy, and I did not have time for art; otherwise, my talent might have improved sooner.

After the death of my wife in 2016, the loss of my left eye, and my giving up golf, I decided to take up painting as a pastime. I called in at a R.A.S. workshop and asked to join. They made me very welcome, and I have been inspired by all the helpful artists and enjoyed my membership greatly.

I have painted a lot of subjects since the beginning, exhibited in many exhibitions, accepted commissions, and one painting has even been sent to China - a painting of a cat.

The inspiration does not diminish. As I get older, now 89, my fascination with painting and drawing does not change. I get great pleasure creating paintings and congregating with my fellow artists.