I am now a 76 year old retired antiques dealer of 45 years trading but at age 62 i decided that i needed a change of direction for the rest of my life so I purchased a derelict shop and flats in Brittany France and over two years renovated it to an art gallery and the decided to start painting and show my work in my own Valerie as i had always collected naive art in particular Fred Yates thick oils so with no experiences at all I thought yes thick oils are for me opened the gallery for 6 years and had a very good response to my work I now pain here in Cornwall again and my style is similar to Fred Yates in very thick oils but now also reconcilable as my own work exactly what i wanted some 12 years ago and I hope to continue until I am 86 like Fred……. who knows