Neil Terry:
I have been interested in art from the age of thirteen when my mother bought me my first watercolour box made by Reeves from Dysons Art Shop on Manchester Road Nelson in 1949. I still use the box to this day.
When I started work at fifteen as a painter and decorator, although I liked the job, I couldn't believe my luck when it included attended the college of further education three evenings and one full day release from work. Most of the lessons involved drawing, design and colour, and the course was called Decorative Painting. This included designing period and contemporary interiors, drawing ornaments, architectural mouldings and friezes, geometry, heraldry, murals and designs in semi-relief. We also did sign-writing, graining and marbling to represent wood and marbles. The other lesson was theory and calculations, the whole six years was a joy, and as an extra bonus I attended a life drawing class so that made it four nights a week.
When the course finished I continued my design and drawing at the Regional College of Art at All Saints, Manchester. During these college years I exhibited at the Grundy Art Gallery at Blackpool most years.
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