Keith Proctor

I have been painting all my life; having had no formal art training, I am a self taught artist. I was first encouraged by my late father Mark Proctor, who was a commercial artist. My father could sketch almost anything very well and quickly; which always fascinated me, and I wanted to be able do it to, so he showed me how.

My first paintings (which I still have) were of birds, as I have always had a big interest in Natural History. Aged nine I illustrated a little book of my own that was "copied" from the British book of birds; which was illustrated by my now favourite artist Raymond Harris Ching. I suppose from the day I completed that little book I was hooked!

My school days were spent day-dreaming; fly fishing and chasing girls called Deborah! Not as part of the school curriculum but as part of my own little learning curve. I used to wave goodbye to my mum in the morning, ride off on my bike and promptly dump it at my pals house, then jump the bus for a 25 mile ride out to the river Coquet at Felton in Northumberland. My Dad would then run me up to the river and back in his car at weekends not knowing that I had already spent the entire week there, a bit of a villain I was!