Born in Edinburgh in 1964, schooled in Fife then studied at the Edinburgh College of Art.  While there he won the John Kinross Scholarship, from the Royal Scottish Academy, which allowed him to study in Florence, and the Richard Ford Award, from the Royal Academy in London, to study the works in the Prado, Madrid. 
Early influences included the collection of Scottish Colourists and Post War Expressionist paintings and later American art; Wyeth, Pollock, Lichtenstein and Warhol.