Biography

I grew up just outside Cambridge in the UK, in a large Irish family. Our house was a constant hive of activity. A typical Irish home with religious pictures, holy water fonts plus statues of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Family wherever you turned. To say it was a stereotypical Irish family is about all I can do for now if I want to keep this brief. For those that know about Irish mammies and daddies, I need say no more. For those those that don´t, maybe I´ll write about it sometime. In hindsight, it was a happy childhood and we were taught many life skills along the way though it didn´t always feel like that at the time.  

After leaving school I did a couple of years at a technical college studying Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. From early teens I was always working part-time jobs in cafes, restaurants and motels and in almost all departments at some point or another. I´m a ´dab hand in the kitchen´ as they say, and as my mam used to say ´Sure, lucky the woman that gets you !". Years later, my surprisingly progressive Irish catholic mammy rephrased that to, "lucky the man that gets you"! God bless her. 

To continue but keeping it brief, I  managed a wine bar and restaurant in central London, worked in a famous luxury goods store and finally went back to Uni for a business degree. I worked in Paris for a few years first as an English teacher and then in marketing. Moved to Dublin and together with a good friend and business partner, set up a fashion design company. Over time we became a high end couture house. Needless to say it was a steep learning curve! This couture period lasted for over 20 years, during which time we had the great pleasure of dressing women from all walks of life, from business professionals, music stars and film Oscar nominees and celebrities to political figures and presidents. 

I expand further on this biography in the section ´The Journey´  where I discuss my working years leading up to becoming and during, being a couturier, including photos of some of our celebrity clients wearing our couture creations. Plus how it all began to slip away, leading me to a new chapter in my life.

If you just want to look at some pretty pictures there is a section dedicated to a selection of  Past photo shoots and fashion shows.

Finally, at the end of 2013, I returned to the UK to be my mother´s full time nurse and carer. It was a great privilege to look after her and was possibly the most profound three years of my life. My Father had died in 2008 so as the orphan I now was when she died, rather than return home to Dublin, I moved to Spain to heal and start a new chapter of my life. 

My art had always been something I did in addition to my other work activities. Now it was time to give it my full attention. In the Art section of this site, I show a selection of my past works including paintings and sculptures.

I hope you enjoy my website. I will continue to add content serving as a kind of a musing diary/note book with links perhaps to articles and things I think you might find interesting.