I should have treated myself to an art education.

An ‘A’ level in art and a general art foundation year thirty years after school wasn’t enough. At 19 I went to Liverpool University and graduated with an honours degree in Zoology and Industrial Studies with a vague notion of teaching. After graduating from Liverpool University, I went into retail management then into business development, which is still my full time occupation today. In 2000 I graduated with a second degree, a Masters in Business Administration from Loughborough University. Over the years, I painted figuratively in oils and watercolours but without vision or voice.

In 2004 I was introduced to printmaking. It was magical but the day job stifled the magic. Ten years later, aged 56, I did a short course in screen printing at Green Door Printmaking Studio and I began printing there once a week. Rather challenging work emerged.

Pablo Picasso put how I feel about art brilliantly:

"What do you think an artist is?.. he is also a political being, constantly aware of the heart breaking, passionate, or delightful things that happen in the world, shaping himself completely in their image … painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war."

Raj Sahota
2016