DAVID TOMS-ASHCROFT

David was born in 1950 in Huyton, Liverpool but grew up on the Wirral in the care of his grandmother.

As a teenager he studied at the Chester College of Art. During this period, he received commissions from the Bluecoat Chambers in Liverpool and was awarded a commendation at the Northern Young Contemporary Artists exhibition in 1967 for his painting 'Boat on Rocks'.

He won a scholarship to study Fine Art but was was unable to complete his studies due to unforeseen circumstances.

​

David spent several years living in Colchester and, whilst working in a hospital for people with learning disabilities, he developed an art therapy unit that enabled attendees to produce multi-media art projects. This would be something David would continue to do throughout a long career in social care. David also continued to receive commissions for murals during his time living in the South East.

​

 In 1981 he moved to Southport and continued to paint. He was invited to submit his painting 'A View' to the Liverpool Biennial at John Moores in 1985.

His work would become more sporadic in the 1990s as he devoted time to his children.

Since retiring David has been able to dedicate many more hours to his work and in the last decade has produced multiple series of works dealing with a variety of themes and subject matters. This includes a set of 15 paintings inspired by his experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic.

​

David uses a variety of different styles in his work and has been influenced by the use of geometry and shapes by painters such as Titian and Mondrian. David's work is often extremely personal in nature and is inspired by the feelings he has to a particular environment or image.

His predominate mediums are oil on canvas and more recently acrylic on canvas.