Having worked as an illustrator on and off for many years Bill gradually made the move into 'fine art' painting in the late 80's, enjoying the new-found freedom of choosing his own subjects and starting the publishing company D'Arcy Collection which now publishes his work as limited edition prints.

Completely self-taught, his interests range from wildlife and landscapes through to steam and nautical subjects but he is best known for his aviation paintings which many people feel capture the very essence of the period through his imaginative use of backgrounds and his preference for 'characterful’ aircraft.

Battered, scraped and generally abused, there is seldom anything shiny and factory fresh about the aeroplanes he paints. These are machines that have seen their share of action and, while he prefers to show them in more peaceful moments, their dents, leaking oil and chipped and peeling paint speak of their experiences just as eloquently as the smoke and flames of battle.

In recent years Bill has also turned novelist with his fictionalised account of Mary Jane Kelly, the supposed final victim of Jack the Ripper www.marykelly.co.uk and branched into computer graphics www.darcystudios.co.uk supplying illustrations and animations for a number of leading web sites.

Born in Bow in the east end of London in 1951, Bill Perring now lives and works in Coulsdon, Surrey.