I am an artist, amongst many other things. My interests range quite widely. Some of them are long-term and enduring like painting, gardening, music and computing. Others come and go, like genealogy, electronics, and mathematics.
One underlying theme is a constant desire to learn. At the moment I am learning about building a website, learning to paint, learning to play the piano etc..
Another pervading bias is doing physical, practical work, making things, mainly of wood and other scraps.
The big problem is that there is not enough time to keep all these interests going at once, so I tend to go in phases. At the moment genealogy and many others are on the back burner.
My career started as a structural engineer. I was part of the team that designed Eastern Avenue in Cardiff. During that time (1963) computers became available and I drifted into that field, writing programs to do engineering calculations. In those days every engineer worked at a drawing board, and that is where I picked up skills at handling pens and pencils, and the tendency to make my paintings too precise.
I started painting in watercolour in 1990, a couple of years before I retired, and it has continued to be an abiding passion. Because of art I’ve been fortunate to have met many very nice people.
I’m not at all convinced that the genial well groomed character in the photo is my allotment neighbour. I don’t recognise you without your battered hat!
P.s. the paintings are wonderful.
Hi Colin
I don’t know if I’ve found ‘the right’ Colin Bishop or not. I too, am into genealogy and am looking for a Colin Bishop, son of Victor and Phyllis (nee Jenks) Bishop. If it is you, I’ve traced your maternal line back to Somerset in the 1700s. My gt-grandfather emigrated to NZ in 1875 not long before his niece Elsie Hilda Turner was born – if I’m right then she is your Grandmother. Anyway, if you are ‘the right’ Colin Bishop and you are interested, drop me a line – I have lots of info and am happy to share.