I was born in 1961, and was fortunate enough to have been around   when   the  the US space program was in full swing, along with its   influence on  popular culture, namely  television, and its plethora of   science fiction  shows, from both sides of the Atlantic. (some I might   add, not really  related to science at all ). 

The main influence in my choice of subject matter was seeing the   Movie   2001: A Space Odyssey, with its mind stamping images,  when   I was 8  years old. At this age, I would sit at the classroom   window and stare  out  endlessly, especially during the snowy winters   and dream of flying  "star  ships" or being part of  a lost family in their   incredible flying  saucer.  It  was the trigger for my interest in outer   space.  Of course  developments  in real life space exploration have   proved to be much  more interesting.  Where  a Physicist would be   interested in what  things  are made of, an  artist is more interested in   what they look like. Fairly early on I became  aware of some of the   Great  Astronomical  Artists; Chesley Bonestell, Ludek Pesek, David   Hardy.  It was in 1972, that I saw an old fashioned  "record"  with one   of   Dave Hardy's paintings  on its cover. (and I still have  it)  The   painting  in question was of  a view  of Mars from Deimos, seen in  the   book "Challenge of the Stars" also  published around this time as  well.  I had that volume for Christmas of  that year.  With their  realist  style, I   was captivated.   

Also reading the novelisation of "2001" and  "The lost worlds of 2001"   with  their  vivid descriptions of alien worlds.  At the time I tried  to paint   these scenes, but lacking the necessary skills, failed.   In the early   1980's I became aware of the work of Don Dixon, Ron Miller and Adolf   Schaller.  Later I discovered  Pamela Lee,    William K.Hartmann   from   the ( "The Grand Tour" & "Out of the Cradle books" ), Lynette   Cook,  and  Dr. Mark Garlick   

My chosen media now being acrylic on canvas, and sometimes on paper.  With the advent of the computer, digital art has become a new interest, with images being created from scratch in the Painter and Photoshop programs,   In 2006 I became a member of the   International  Association of Astronomical Artists,  IAAA