‘My most embarrassing moment? I’m too old to remember!’

Artist Ed Robinson on the smell of pipe tobacco, the joy of fly fishing and His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Ed Robinson: ‘I wanted to be an engineering draughtsman; their work fascinated me.’

Born in 1951, Ed Robinson’s mixed-media street scenes are a tour de force of urban painting—a fascination that stems from the sights, sounds and smells he first encountered working in Soho in the 1960s.

What does happiness look like?
Being with the family, grandchildren and by the stream, fly fishing.

Do you have any bad habits?
I'm an occasional pipe smoker. Does that count?

What was your most embarrassing moment?
Nothing springs to mind. I'm too old to remember!

What is your favourite smell?
Three spring to mind: either verbena (our garden is full of them), honeysuckle (especially after a good rain shower) or my pipe tobacco.

Can you remember a favourite holiday?
Many.

What time did you wake up today?
The usual: 7am.

What was the last thing you ate?
A bacon and egg sandwich...

And drank?
...with a cup of tea!

What are you currently listening to, or reading?
Listening to A Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis. Reading Observation: A Fly Fisher's Guide to Reading the Water by Philip White and Finest Years: Churchill as Warlord 1940–45 by Max Hastings.

Artist Ed Robinson sketching in his Buckinghamshire studio.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
An engineering draughtsman. Their work fascinated me.

What is the worst thing anyone's said to you? 
I can't remember, so it can't have been that bad!

What is the worst job you ever had?
I'm very fortunate not to have had one! I've enjoyed a career in advertising, graphic design, freelance design and painting.

And the weirdest?
Job? None.

Who or what is the greatest love of your life?
My wife and family.

If you could talk to anyone, past, present or future, who would it be?
Either Leonardo Da Vinci, Sir Winston Churchill, or Alan Turing.

Tell me a joke?
Alas, I can never remember them to tell.

Have you ever been arrested?
No!

Have you lied since this interview began?
No.

What has life taught you?
As the Dalai Lama once said: "To be born is a miracle, to live to old age is good fortune; what you do in between is up to you."

Ed painting at his easel.