Hello, my name is Eric and I'm a Xaraholic !Computers in general have always interested me, but graphics in particular have been
my consuming passion. Originally from Liverpool, I have lived the greatest part of my life in Harwich. I have no formal graphics training, having joined the British Merchant Navy at 16 and continued my sea career for 27
years, until 1991. After that I operated an airport taxi service for 9 years, but having decided that the tax man was earning more from my company than I was, I decided to start my own web design company. At present
it's no more lucrative but anything beats being stuck on the London Orbital for hours on end !
My interest in computers goes back many years, my first computer being a Tatung Einstein which had the graphics capability
of a lump of cheese. After that I purchased an Acorn A3000 which introduced me first to "Draw" then "Artworks" the developer of Xara. In fact I migrated to the PC because of Xara, but I still miss
Acorns' OS and it's stability.
I'm married to Denise, my long suffering wife, who thinks that whenever I'm sat in front of my computer I'm having fun ( which I usually am, but don't let on ) I think she preferred it
when I was at sea, at least she was positive I wasn't there then instead of just suspecting it now. I also have two fantastic daughters and two beautiful granddaughters to keep me in touch with reality.
I don't
consider myself as an artist. What I do is draw on a computer. I can't draw with a pencil or paint with a brush, but I flip at the ability to produce on a monitor, with it's endless undo possibilities, the opportunity
to delete and try again, to be able to zoom in on a particular part of a drawing, to clone, cut, add bitmap fills or transparencies. I find I never finish a drawing. I might return to it a year later and redefine it
whilst having the opportunity to keep the original as it was. No traditional medium allows you to do this.
I hope you enjoy my work.
Eric
