About Mike Bird

​

I have been painting and drawing as a leisure activity since childhood.  I now live in East Devon, UK.  I enjoy painting because it is intensely personal and there are no rules.  What matters is that you enjoy experimenting and that the finished result gives yourself and, with luck, others pleasure and satisfaction. However, it is always interesting to see how other artists have made creative and original use of materials with which I am not necessarily familiar.  Being a member of an art society, such as the Otter Vale Art Society, broadens ones horizons, giving a greater insight and appreciation of the work of others.

​

These days, my subject matter is mainly landscapes and seascapes, sometimes delving into the abstract.  I also have a tendency to incorporate a steam train, which is a hangover from my early youth watching trains from the line-side and early memories spending holidays on Fordingbridge railway station in Hampshire, where my grandfather was the stationmaster.  I use a combination of photographs, memory and imagination as my source material.

 ​