Mike Knowles

Artist Statement

A Very Short & Somewhat Uninteresting Biography
On leaving school I spent a year at Art College before deciding to try for a short service commission in the army. The objective was to win the VC and live to tell the tale. Preferably with all my limbs and mental faculties intact. It wasn’t glory or patriotism that inspired me, but a flair for interior decorating. The medal would look nice on the mantelpiece. Alas, it was not to be. After grading me “F” in Leadership, the Army Selection Board decided I wasn’t officer material. Remembering they were short of cannon fodder, they persuaded me to join up and try again. They didn’t have to twist my arm. I fact, just to prove how pliable I was, they had me juggling live hand grenades behind a pile of sandbags. So ended up where all failed officer candidates end up, in the Intelligence Corps. Having saved Democracy from the Red Menace, I left the army and trained as a psychiatric nurse, (I should have been a patient, but they were short of staff.) Finally, I became a psychotherapist before eventually leaving the NHS to become a freelance writer. I’m married with two children and I’ve written for magazines, children’s comics, television and radio. I also wrote jokes for a number of comedians…even when they begged me not to! Using a combination of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Poser, I’ve even been known to create cartoons on an Apple Mac G4 by digitally remixing old photographs.

Mike Knowles