As a child I grew up at the foot of the Black Stairs Mountains in County Carlow In the Southeast of Ireland and later in my teenage years we lived in the midlands. We had so many rescue animals growing up. dogs, cats, chickens, rabbits, fish, lambs, wild birds, foxes they were all mine and I belonged to them. Each animal had a name and a place in my heart. I grew up climbing trees, building dams on streams, roaming the hills and fields, fishing, building dens in woodlands and most of all spending time with my rottie called Bear and my labrador called Jake. From a very young age I loved to draw. And what better subject to draw than the animals I shared my days with. Fast forward to more recent times I graduated from Carlow IT with a Bachelor of Art (honours). While I am primarily a self-taught Artist, studying Art for 4 years allowed me to concentrate on my skills and explore my passion to work figuratively. In truth my education came mostly from my childhood immersing myself in nature and the animal world. My lifelong passion for dogs has been essential in helping me create so many evocative pastel portraits that capture the unique spirit and grace of the K9 form. My work now forms part of many private and corporate collections worldwide. Aside from doing portraits, I love taking care of my current recue animals. Bindi our old german shepherd dog came to us from our local Wexford SPCA after breaking her leg as a pup. Troy our young GSD was found abandoned on a busy road. Bama the cat was hand reared by myself. He is now older but convinced he's a human baby. Gingerman, another cat, is our one-eyed old man. We absolutely adore our feathered friends too and raise European and USA silkie chickens