"Painting is easy when you don't know how ..."

Born in London in 1964. I was never exactly sure what I wanted to do, so aged 20 I decided to make it up as I went along.

The first thing I made up was painting - after dropping out from a Zoology degree at King's College London in 1984.

Living in Earls Court, W London and making Anomalitic Music with students James and Brian, taking up a pencil and pad seemed a natural thing to try.

Moving on to charcoals, then pastels, then ultimately oil paintings of a certain nature. I couldn't afford canvases so taped strips of woodchip wallpaper together and created rather large, rather bizarre images - taped to the wall of our shared lounge, by now in Tooting, SW London; my flatmates were tolerant people.

Fleeing to a room in Hitchin, Herts in late 1986 necessitated a shrink in scale, so I moved on to hardboard and canvases and actually sold a number.

I was advised to meet a very posh Art Gallery owner in Chelsea, W London. I was nervous so visited a nearby pub before entering his gallery. When I finally did I stumbled over my words and beerily called him by someone else's name and that, I believe, was that.

Samples are in the Lightbox above.

"If you think you're unattractive, you need a better mirror ... "

After forays in Art reproduction with Art Company in NW3, followed by a spell in Bristol making a magazine called The Irregular on a Amstrad PCW with a Canon bubbljet printer, I found myself living in a house in the middle of a wheat field on the outskirts of Ickleford, Herts.

I discovered a cellar under the house, unused by the house-mates; in this den I commenced the alchemy of mirror making.

The mirrors were made from reclaimed or sawn timber then hand-painted and varnished. I married a girl who moved into the house above and we sped to Exmoor in 1997 to develop 'Dryden Smith Mirrors'.

We rented the Dairy Workshop at Bickham Manor, Timberscombe and sold mirrors all around the country at craft shops, fairs, galleries and furniture retailers, such as Liberty, Burford Wood Craft, Top Drawer ...

When she left me for Cult Membership With The Crazies in 2000 (an interesting time) I ended up sleeping in the Dairy Workshop with my dog, Milly, and we enjoyed all the insects that came out at night.

Samples in the Lightbox above.

"Never underestimate the importance of having fun ... "

Struggling with the fallout from the demise of DSM, I found myself routed through Exeter, Hitchin and Whitwell to a place called St Pauls Walden, Herts. The Queen's cousin lives there and I worked for the estate and lived in the Garden Flat right next to the main house - The Bury. That was 2003.

My future wife Petra moved next door and in 2005 we left to build our own nest in a cottage at nearby Kings Walden. Down the road were some old stables, converted into small workshops ...

I started making things but I didn't know what they were, so called them Wall-Hangings. The intention was to sell some, but I was so busy having fun I gave them away as presents by mistake.

Samples in the Lightbox above