I was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 1962 and attended Salisbury College of Art and Lincoln College of Art.

It was during my college days I first came into contact with the huge festival taking place a few miles up the road at Stonehenge, and the Green Laners, a community of people living in an assortment of brightly painted caravans and buses in the beautiful countryside just south of Salisbury. This all made such an impression on me a career in graphics was forgotten as I became more and more involved in this wonderful alternative world I had discovered.

In 1986 I found a vintage Bristol SUL4A bus for sale and this was to be my home for the next seven years, mainly based around the Salisbury area but also as far afield as Cornwall, Wales, Lancashire and London. Particular highlights during this time were 3 weeks at the legendary Treworgey Tree Fayre on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, and a visit to the Mushroom Festival, in the Black Mountains of South Wales.

These were magical times but in 1993 I left it all behind as I sold my bus and moved back to town to concentrate on my career as an artist.

I worked on a variety of subject matters, began to develop my portraits and embarked on a wide-ranging series of paintings exploring the landscapes of Scotland, from the mountains and islands of the west to the gentler scenery of the east.

In 2006, the 20th anniversary of buying my bus, I returned to my favourite subject with a new series of paintings and portraits remembering the festivals and travellers I was so fortunate to have known.

I am still living in Salisbury, happily married to Sylvia and sharing our home with Molly, the Scottish Terrier.

I can be contacted on david@davidstooke.co.uk