kenhayes1@gmail.com
Website cobbled together by Ken Hayes
2002-2023

About Me:
I was born in Leeds in 1962 and grew up in the 12th century Yorkshire town of Knottingley. As a Yorkshireman I use 'thee' and 'thy' pronouns.
As well as my lifelong passion for art I've always loved cartoons, in 1985 while between jobs I decided to turn my hobby of making animated films into a career. After a Foundation Art & Design year at Wakefield college I went on to what was then the Newport Film School to study Animation, I gained my Higher National Diploma after completing the course in 1988.
During my time in Newport I met my future wife Catherine and after marrying in October '88 we settled in the village of Penpedairheol (Head of the four roads) in the Rhymney Valley South Wales. Our offspring are Laura 34 and Lewis 30
My career as a Cartoon Animator began almost immediately working on feature films and children's TV series for BBC, ITV, CH4 and S4C. I was part of the team that turned King Charles' book 'The Old man of Lochnagar' into the 25 minute special 'The Legend of Lochnagar'. The then Prince invited our team to his Highgrove home where I got to shake his hand and drink his whisky.
In 2009 and after nearly 20 years in the industry I left to make my living as a professional watercolourist. Partial résumé

Painting:
I'm a very prolific self taught artist and flood the country with hundreds of paintings every year, I'm not afraid to tackle any subject and will paint anything that interests me.
I have a very simple approach in that I go for a faithful but distilled version of the scene in front of me. All my paintings are done with just three colours.
I'm a listed artist and feature prominently in internet searches. I've sold well over 11,000 paintings mostly on eBay with substantial sales of exhibited works at various high street and online galleries as well as domestic and international art auction houses.