MOST artists have a unique and inherent talent for their trade that few of us can equal. This is certainly the case for Terry Mullen, who knew he wanted to be an artist from a very young age - and he hasn't looked back since.

"I never thought of doing anything else," recalled Terry.

"It's one of those things you draw from being a kid."

With strong roots in Cheshire, Terry was born in Stockport and started his art education at Stockport School of Art before graduating to the Regional College of Art in Manchester.

Terry always found the atmosphere in art schools invigorating and relished the opportunity to return when he became a part-time lecturer at Chester School of Art in the 70s.

"There is so much energy released from the young minds in art schools, you can't help but be influenced by the freshness of their ideas," he said.

Terry regularly visits and works as a guest artist in the famous Porthmeor Studios of the St Ives School of Painting in Cornwall.

Now with more than 40 years' experience in the business, he lives and works from his studio in Chester as a painter and commercial artist.

Some high profile assignments he has done over the years include being an advertising designer for a furniture store and window company in Warrington.

But where his real passion lies is in painting and his work holds a pertinent link to his Cheshire connection.

For instance, the Eccleston village picture is a beautiful landscape of the Duke of Westminster estate and a portrait of Dave Richardson is of a former fireman from Tarporley.

Terry also explained the background to his painting of John and Dorothy Connor.

"John was a man from Stockport who died a few years ago," he said.

"He worked for Boddingtons and when he died, they closed the whole brewery so the employees could attend the funeral."

Portraits, nudes and landscapes are his usual subjects but people are his favourite artistic focus because Terry believes they present the biggest challenge.

He was influenced by his extensive travels in the United States, especially the Rocky Mountains, Grand Canyon and the deserts of Arizona, which obviously presented a formidable challenge to him as an artist.

But despite all these challenges, Terry remains firm on his traditional painting approach that he believes has made a powerful comeback after many years of conceptual and abstract art.

He added: "With influences from Russia and Asia, there has been a return to more traditional minded art."

Prints of Terry's work are available personally signed by the artist.

For more information, email terrymullen@wizaddesign.plus.com or call 01244 533754.