At the age of 16 I was accepted into Bournville College of Art to study for a Graphic Design course. It was very varied and taught me various new skills. This was when I first used Designer Gouache and got used to its various qualities. I later organized exhibitions at local venues and sold work to The Stable Gallery, London, where I had my first major exhibition. I worked as a window dresser for two years, but was always writing stories and painting in my spare time. Throughout my working years I constantly showed my work to publishers and The Halcyon Gallery in Birmingham regularly bought my work. As a result of this Washington Green asked me for a set of four small cat paintings and consequently I embarked on a publishing programme with them.
