For as long as he can remember, Robert Oxley has loved painting. He learnt early on that he could impress others with his art when one of his drawings was published in a book called ‘Getting Ready For School’ which was sent to nursery children all over the world. As he grew a little older, his work was influenced by his love of horror movies and rock music, and he would spend all his time drawing monsters and copying album covers. Robert developed a passion for wildlife, birds and natural history and, longing to be a zoo keeper, he began to make and paint dioramas for imaginary zoos. At around 12 years old, he accepted a challenge from his grandfather to draw all the birds in an illustrated book of birds they both loved, and was a little surprised when his grandfather then arranged an exhibition of them at his work! Robert attempted an Art A Level in school and a degree later in life, but found both a little too repetitive, and felt he was more advanced than the class tutors. As a result, Robert is entirely self-taught; he says “Everything I know I taught myself from watching and doing, if I saw something I liked I’d try it myself and I never give up on a piece.”