Rob was born in Vancouver. Aged twenty one, a sense of adventure brought him to Oxford to study architecture which led to further adventures in London and Los Angeles.

 

However, the call of the wild drew him to the Cotswolds to be an artist: to paint, draw and make prints of places and things pleasing or peculiar. 

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‘Over the past several years the main theme of my creative practice has been to paint directly in the landscape: en pleinair. In doing so, one is immersed in the colours, shapes, lines and forms that the given light articulates. A painting typically takes several hours, so the light changes! I consider these works as records of ‘being there’…at a specific place over a specific period of time. Sometimes the light fails or the weather conspires to stop play whereupon I will return to the site or resort to memory. Only when I retreat from the location, away from the comparison to nature (in her majesty!), can I see if I have a painting that has the energy, or life, I seek in my painting.'

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Solo and group shows: The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour (London); The Foreign Press Association (London); The Royal West of England Academy (Bristol), The Museum of Oxfordshire (Woodstock), The Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum, Brian Sinfield Gallery (Burford), The White Room Gallery (Leamington Spa), La Chappelle des Capuchins,  Turenne (France), The Riva D'Arno Gallery, Florence (Italy) ; Dar Al-Ma'mûn Library, Marrekech (Morocco) and at Art by Saby, St. Emilion (France).

 

Commissions include: The Royal Shakespeare Company for a work presented by H.R.H. Prince Charles; The Watermill Theatre (Newbury) for an edition of  signed prints used as a platform for a fundraising campaign; and H.M. Graphics for over 20 works published as signed limited edition prints.

 

ETC.: Artwork twice selected by the Emily Carr College of Art to tour British Columbia. (1980, 1982); awarded internship with Pritzker prize winning architects, Morphosis (Los Angeles, 1987); B.A. Hons in architectural studies (Oxford, 1989); Shortlisted for the Windsor & Newton Young Artist Award (1996); Postgraduate Certicate in Art Education (2007); Artist-in-residence, Dar Al-Ma'mûn, Fellah Hotel (April 2015)