Ole Murphy, 23, from Heathfield remembers being only 10 when he first enjoyed drawing. After GCSE art exams he never felt confident enough to take it as an A-Level subject. He said: "It's taught wrong. You're made to believe it's a competition about who can draw something most realistically. I didn't want to think like that. It was so much more."
Born in Crowborough, Ole took an art foundation course at Hastings College which, he says, helped him navigate his own direction. "I was free to explore and experiment without a strict curriculum on my shoulders."
He studied illustration at Bristol University, branching out into laser cutting, drawings and even land art where he aimed to enhance the beauty of the surrounding countryside.
Inspiration hits, he says, when he wanders through woods (and there are plenty in East Sussex.) "I feel I'm soaking up raw energy and this helps shape my work. The natural world is my playground now."
Ole was asked whether he was interested in creating a mural, ultimately for display in a Surrey town. It's now finished and depicts a rural scene with country people, horses, cattle, wild creatures and birds set against the vibrant emerald of spring grass and foliage. It's not 'naive' but clear and well-drawn, inspired a little by children's paintings which have 'simplicity and freedom.'
The original enterprise inspired interiors and paint specialist Brewers to describe and illustrate the mural in its consumer publication.
It's eerily reminiscent of murals recently painted on walls of the Cliffe underpass in Lewes, although Ole's work pre-dates that by more than a year.
Since then he's taken several commissions for murals. He's also into screen printing, specifically T-shirts - and at university he fell in love with the endless fun he could have with relief printing.
So if you have a spare indoor or outdoor wall that could do with an original decoration - be it mediaeval, natural, rural or even tropical with waving palms - contact Ole.l Apart from his talent with the brush this is a man whose conversation erupts into an enthusiastic aside every five minutes: "Oh, just look at that!"