About the artist

As a boy, Mike Ellwood enjoyed drawing Spitfires and action pictures of footballers. A good grounding for understanding the human form and appreciating aerodynamic curves. Then, as a teenager he worked as a cartographer for the Ordnance Survey, where, he discovered, accuracy was definitely preferred to imagination.

His first attempts at oil-painting were portraits of literary giants James Joyce and Brendan Behan, in the hope of impressing his Irish girl-friend.

Then came a career in education: pencil portraits of pupils, much in demand; large chalk murals on black board – followed by retirement and the opportunity to devote time to his art.

Now he prefers to paint portraits in water-colour or acrylic, but continues to search for projects that both interest and challenge him. Recently he has provided illustrations for a book of satirical articles.