Born in Scotland, he moved to London to study Law at the Middle Temple, but quickly turned to painting. He attended the Slade 1952-4. In 1954 he was one of 'Six Young Contemporaries' at Gimpel Fils; in 1955 he was awarded a British Council Scholarship to study in Italy; there, the quality of the light and the landscape profoundly affected his work as did early Italian art with its simplified depiction of events.
On returning to London he developed a style of abbreviated forms and strong pastel colours which he has continued to use throughout his career.
His first one-man show was at the Beaux Arts Gallery in 1959. He was given two more one-man shows by Beaux Arts in 1960 and 1964. In 1970 he won the Edwin Austin Abbey Premier Scholarship, and in 1974 won the third prize at the 9th John Moores exhibition.
His poetic, luminous and delicately painted canvases are often on religious themes, but include portraits, landscapes and animals. His paintings are never signed on the front so as not to upset the austere balance of the composition. He has also produced an important series of crucifixions and nativities.