David Garry Cartlidge B.A.(Hons.)Fine Art, P.G.C.E. (Art Ed.)

“Life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced” said Søren Kierkegaard but I do see life as a problem, a puzzle that with perseverance we might finally solve, at least for ourselves.

We are products of  genetics and conditioning and it's not always possible to know why we act as we do. Why at an early age I 'chose' to draw I can't say. I grew up in The Potteries and no-one in my family was particularly interested in art. Before the 'Designer Revolution' I found that being 'arty' in an industrial working class environment was not really appreciated. 

I was never academic but somehow managed to pass my eleven plus exams. I took Art at O and A levels and gained a place at Burslem School of Art under Arthur Berry where I was awarded a degree.

I've worked in various factories, a Royal Doulton pot bank and a bakery. I was a police officer, a teacher in special and mainstream education and I helped crew an emergency ambulance. I'm married to Margaret, a Science teacher and we have two daughters, Rachael and Becky, both doctors. I now work on a casual basis at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery teaching history and art, I'm interested in psychology and have a qualification in hypnotherapy.

I've encountered many kinds of ideas and behaviour. I follow politics and study the issues we face - the environment, the unfair distribution of wealth, the psychological harm of  consumerism, the rise of the far right. I find it particularly sad when creative people target the vulnerable through advertising.

Famous artists I admire for their honesty include Bosch, Goya, Munch, Kollwitz and the German Expressionists and for their ingenuity and creativity, Ernst, Klee and Miro.

I'm now sixty-six years old. Over the years I've tried to use any creative and teaching abilities I have to serve the community and my work is in schools, churches, museums and other public buildings as well as in private homes. I'm proud to have helped thousands of people learn about art.

My art continues to be a search for the solution to life's puzzle. I learn from everything I make and continue to study Nature believing that it's in Nature that answers may be found.

Garry Cartlidge