20 Questions to Simon Birtall (www.birtall.co.uk).

1: Who are you?

I’m Simon Birtall. Hello.

2: What is your background?

Following completion of a Foundation Course in Art & Design at Wirral Met’s Withens Lane campus, I studied Illustration at Falmouth School of Arts in Cornwall. I stayed in Cornwall for about 12 years, before moving back to the Wirral.

3: Where were you born?

Wirral. A couple of weeks overdue.

4: Explain your work in up to 40 words.

I try to work as rapidly as possible, allowing myself the freedom to make mistakes. Playing with paint, I enjoy experimenting with colours, tone and texture. I paint as loosely as possible within a figurative framework.

5: How has your practice changed over time?

I’m less methodical now, and more able and willing to trust my own judgement and instincts. In the past I made the mistake of listening to the…