Northern Irish artist and graphic illustrator Terry Aston studied at Manchester College of Art & Design, gaining diplomas in Art & Design, Graphic Design; followed by a postgraduate Art Teacher’s Diploma (1963–66). In 1966 he began a teaching career at the University of Ulster in Belfast, where he was based for 33 years as Senior Lecturer, until retiring in 2000. Since then, Aston has exhibited his work including at Portaferry Arts Society’s Summer Exhibition in 2008, and at Monday Painters in 2013. Examples of his work are represented in the UTV Media Collection, Belfast. Describing his working practice, Aston says: Most current work is in small pocket sketchbooks, which accompany me on a daily basis. They are a record of my travels at home and especially abroad where new surroundings stimulate a flurry of activity. Though the books form a reference collection for further development through printmaking or watercolour, I feel that the direct and spontaneous drawing style is dynamic in its own right and the chronological order of the whole book as a complete ‘package’ is important.
