Geoffrey Wales

Wood engraver Geoffrey Wales RE was born in Margate, Kent. He studied at Thanet Art School, and then at the Royal College of Art from 1933-37, where his tutors included John and Paul Nash, Edward Bawden, and Eric Ravilious, and through whom, he discovered a love of wood engraving.  He made illustrations for the Golden Cockerel Press, Folio Society, and Kynoch Press. He was an inspiring teacher and taught at Canterbury School of Art from 1937-40. After serving in the RAF in World War II, he returned to teach in Kent. In 1953 he took up a post as a lecturer at Norwich School of Art, where he taught until he retired in 1977. He continued to make wood engravings, printed by hand in small editions, throughout his life. These are held in collections including the V&A Museum, and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.