Simon Drew was born in Reading on the 9th of October 1952, and was educated at Bradfield College, Berkshire. He read Zoology at Exeter University, and trained as a teacher at Reading University before teaching for five years in West Sussex. In 1981, Simon's partner Caroline arranged for them to establish their own gallery in Dartmouth, Devon, for the sale of illustrations, paintings and the work of studio potters. Simon has been producing pen and ink drawings using plays on words in his inimitable, quirky style ever since.
He enjoys portraying everyday objects and animals in environments you would never expect to find them - hens on breakfast tables; runner ducks in Indian headdresses; birds bunched together in the shape of an apple. But he does not cartoonise the creatures, in that his zoological training makes him keen to depict animals with biological accuracy.
His drawings are precise. Minutiae and draftsmanship are important to him.
Offbeat humour, a sense of the ridiculous and the incongruities in the natural world whilst attending to meticulous detail all combine to inform his work.
Some of Simon's originals are also exhibited at the Chris Beetles Gallery, 8 & 10 Ryder Street, St. James's, London, SW1Y 6QB. Tel: 020 7839 7551