My name is Raymond McDermott, therefore  Mondo for short. I was born and spent my formative years  in a working class environment in Greater Manchester. Left school early at 15 yrs old to help bring income into the family household. Loved art and field athletics at school, i have forever been creatively  running to or from places and events, all my life . 

I studied art at Technical College, as a young adult, they called it night school in those days, and achieved my first A level . Then became busy, growing up, rearing a young working class family of my own, moving from job to career to vocation, and before i knew it where has the time gone?

So in my mid life I rediscovered art, joined local art groups, did some portrait workshops at the Manchester Academy of Art, joined portrait classes in Lincoln, gained a diploma at the London Art College, felt my creativity grow, its never too late. 

After working in retail supermarkets for years, gained qualifications in Environmental Health, moved my family to Northampton, to work for the local Authority, 80's financial crisis made me redundant, managed to gain a job here on the east Lincolnshire Coast, sunny Skeggy, had a pre mid life crisis, and moved from looking after the  Environmental health and went to assist with the National Health and trained as a Nurse, in various fields, some more emotive than others, it made me a people person, therefore my love of painting people, and portraiture.

At the same time I joined the local RNLI lifeboat crew, amazing, exciting fun, and also played in local bands playing mainly , quite loud guitar. I had ambition to travel, so i got a camper van, mainly so that I can take my dog with me, we're almost inseperable. he's even got a spanish passport.

My life experiences influence my artworks.

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