Tim Shorten was born in Bolton, Lancs. He studied at Bolton College of Art & Design, Preston Polytechnic Department of Fine Art (now UCLan), and Leeds Polytechnic (Leeds Beckett University). He was Head of Art and Design at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys in Cheshire until 2017, and is now a full-time painter.

‘My work is probably best described as narrative painting. Essentially, I give you a moment in time, from which you may imagine the story surrounding the people you see. Everything in the image is there as the result of some experience, memory or impulse of mine, but where it lands with the viewer will be determined only by his or her own unique fund of experiences.’