Due to his parents' poor health, Clive was unable to pursue further education in art after leaving school, required instead to provide regular income into the household. For many years he earned extra money working as a musician on top of his full-time job. Once his own family was raised and had left home, he was able to devote himself to art once more. It was seeing a double portrait by Sargent in Tate Britain that inspired Clive to become a figurative artist - a decision that led him to seek out tuition from world-class artists on both sides of the Atlantic. It is this combination of artistic sensibilities on top of his working-class roots that gives Clive's art a distinctive feel.
Clive's intention is always to create work which has an intensity of presence. That intensity often comes from the thinking behind the piece and extends into the way the paint is applied. "All art that appeals to me, be it painting, sculpture, music or poetry, has an intense presence to it. Once created, it is a thing in-and-of itself. It was like it had always existed."
