This is me!
I was born in Barnstaple into a family of farmers and growers, and grew up surrounded by the woods, fields and countryside of North Devon.My interest in painting started when I was only six or seven. My mum was at an orchestra practice at Braunton School, and while I was there I became fascinated by an older man painting watercolour bird scenes. I went home wanting to have a go myself, and before long I was painting my own.As I got older and started seeing more landscape paintings, I realised that was what I really wanted to paint. I worked mainly in watercolour for years. Art at school could actually be quite frustrating because I already knew the direction I wanted to go in, but didn't always have access to the materials I wanted to use.Later in adult life, I felt I'd reached a bit of a wall with watercolour. I wanted to push myself further, so I moved into acrylics and oils — and that desire to keep learning and improving has pretty much followed me through everything I've done since.
I spent years working as a builder's labourer before eventually gaining the experience and confidence to take on building work myself. It taught me something I've carried into everything else: you don't have to know everything at the beginning. Learn from people who know more than you, keep practising and don't be afraid to have a go.That's probably why I end up with so many interests. Painting, photography, music, gardening, golf — I tend to pick things up, disappear down the rabbit hole and try to get better at them. You might as well keep learning while you've still — just about — got your health! From paintings to productsEventually I wanted to see if I could do something more with my artwork.One of the first big steps was producing a calendar with the help of my friend Rupert. We spent many hours putting it together, trying to make it the very best thing we could produce.Then came the slightly more frightening bit — actually selling it.Around 2,000 calendars were eventually sold across Devon and Cornwall, which gave me the confidence to keep going.Postcards followed, then greetings cards and prints, and more recently fridge magnets — which have become my best-selling product so far.What started with simply painting the places around me was gradually becoming something much bigger.Still inspired by home.
These days I live with my long-suffering Czech girlfriend, who fortunately shares my enthusiasm for creating things and taking on projects.Rather fittingly, we live across the road from where I grew up, playing in the woods and fields around our family farm and the neighbouring farms.It's a beautiful part of North Devon and a pretty inspirational place to live when you happen to love painting landscapes.I'm passionate about the West Country — its countryside, coastline, villages and all those places that become tied up with people's holidays, childhoods and memories. That's really what I want the artwork and our products to celebrate.Where we're goingThe ambition now is to grow Steve H Art & Design and County Keepsakes into a much broader collection of beautiful, good-quality and affordable artwork, gifts and keepsakes, available both directly to the public and through independent shops and stockists.The more the business grows, the more new places, products and designs we can add to the collection.I'm an honest and very hard-working person — although probably a slightly obsessive one once I get my teeth into something. I care about getting things right, and whether you're buying something for yourself or stocking our products in your shop, I'll always aim to give you the very best product and service I can.It's grown from a love of painting, making things and the place I call home — and we're really only getting started.