Originally from Essex, Mike spent his childhood obsessing over comics and Hergé’s Tintin books, and devoted endless hours to drawing cartoon strips. Always fascinated by the city, Mike moved to London in 2005 and shortly afterward won first prize in a national newspaper cartoon competition with a caricature of musician Pete Doherty. He studied a BA in Illustration at the University of Westminster and graduated in 2008.

Since finishing his degree, Mike has worked as a gallery assistant/security warder at the National Gallery in London, a job that allows absorption of reverential and inspiring art on a daily basis and plentiful people-watching. In 2010 he organised and curated two ensemble exhibitions at the East Gallery on Brick Lane, Repeat and Reprise with his gallery colleagues in February, and Somewhere, Sometime with his fellow Westminster graduates in July.

Recently Mike has begun to develop a sideline in illustration for educational and children’s book publishers, earning commissions from Macmillan, Oxford University Press and Dorling Kindersley; for the most part he specialises in portraiture, character studies from real life such as his portrayals of ordinary womenfolk in the series Deptford Wives (pun fully intended), urban landscapes, architectural views and map art.

“The city and its depth, complexity and source for diverse characters and environments has been a constant inspiration for me to create new images. I like to explore these as well as other themes such as current affairs and modern consumerist culture, always striving for realism and sincerity with the occasional dash of satire.”

Selected clients:
Brockley Market
The Butchery
Castleacre Insurance
The Conservatoire
Craft Trail at the Thames Festival
Dorling Kindersley
Hometown World
The London Student
Macmillan Education
Notion Magazine
Oxford University Press

Awards:
Cartoon Arts Trust Young Cartoonist of the Year, 2005

Selected exhibitions:
June 2011: Creekside Open, APT Gallery, 6 Creekside, London SE8
October 2010: Made In Britain, London Miles Gallery, Westbourne Studios, Acklam Road, London W10
July 2010: Somewhere Sometime, EastGallery, 214 Brick Lane, London E1
February 2010: Repeat and Reprise, EastGallery, 214 Brick Lane, London E1
July 2009: In A State Of Flux, Gallery Soup, 124 Whitechapel Road, London E1
July 2008: University of Westminster Illustration Degree Show, P3, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1
August 2006: London Lives, Cartoon Museum, 35 Little Russell Street, London WC1

Public displays and collections:
The New Cross House, 316 New Cross Road, London SE14
Oscar’s Café, 48 Ladywell Road, London SE13
Rocodells Estate Agent, 388 Brockley Road, London SE4