East End Prints

East End Prints exists to make great art part of real life, not locked behind gallery walls, price points, or insider knowledge.

I didn’t grow up around galleries. I grew up in working class Essex in the 1980s, where at sixteen your options were fairly clear: hairdresser, the army, or, if you were lucky, something creative. My parents spotted a glimpse of something in me and sent me to study a BTEC at Colchester Institute. That decision changed everything.

A course trip to Paris blew my mind. I had never stepped foot in a gallery, let alone the Louvre. Visiting lecturers like Abram Games arrived with sketchbooks bursting with ideas; war posters, visual storytelling, purpose driven design. The impact was enormous. By eighteen, I knew art wasn’t just something I liked — it was something I wanted to build my life around.

Education grants made an art degree possible. I loved student life so much I stayed on, ran the student union as president (elected on the promise of 99p beer), became a bar licensee, and learned quickly that culture, community, and creativity are built through people, not polish.