Born in Wigan, England in 1957 Eric Gaskell studied painting and printmaking at Wigan College and Sunderland University. Leaving art college with two scholarships in 1980, he has continued working in the creative industries; painting, printing, illustrating and teaching. His work has been exhibited in one-man and group shows in America, Canada, Belgium, Spain, Ireland and throughout the UK as a painter and printmaker.

For me good draftsmanship is the key and when combined with strong composition and colour becomes the linchpin of my work. Recently I have used Greek & Roman myth as allegorical hooks that I can hang both compositional and inking ideas from and the seascape as its trope. These seascapes come from drawings made, memories recollected and complete flights of fancy. My printmaking preference is linocut as the colour processes, the texture and physical mark- making suit my working methods. I revel in the way a linocut has an immediacy, but in truth can take many weeks to produce.