Rod Holt

I did my foundation course at the Rochdale College of Art. I wanted to be an illustrator and I was encouraged to apply for a place at Newcastle Poly.

After graduating I ended up joining Greater Manchester Police and was thrown in at the deep end with the Moss Side Race Riots. I managed a couple of years as a Bobby but eventually realised it wasn’t what I wanted. A brief stint at Rochdale Art Gallery was followed by an epic odyssey cycling over 3000 miles around France. You can read all about this in my book “Take the Long Way Home” (shameless plug 😊).

On my return I had a few design jobs (including with Rossendale Groundwork Trust) before becoming the Graphic Designer at UMIST where I stayed for 21 years, eventually taking voluntary severance in 2004 when UMIST merged with the Victoria University of Manchester. I met my wife Alison in 1990 at UMIST and we married in 1996. We have a son called James.

Since 2004, I have been working full-time as an artist. I have been very lucky to have the freedom to work when and how I want for the past twenty years. I’ve had some successes along the way but it’s not easy to be accepted by the art world!