He was the founding director of the NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize which helped reposition en plein air painting to the fore of contemporary Australian art practice. Paul’s passion for the environment has seen him become a Trustee of The Australian Museum and of the Lizard Island Reef Research Station.

His undergraduate degrees were in architecture, after which he gained admission to the masters program in architecture at Columbia University in New York. He instead opted for a Master of Fine Art (painting) at the College of Fine Art, University of New South Wales. Having graduated with honours, he first exhibited with Robin Gibson Galleries, and is now represented by Simon Chan’s Art Atrium gallery.

He has been a finalist in most of Australia’s notable awards including the Salon Refuse (Archibald), Paddington, Mosman, KAAF, Calleen and Fishers Ghost, and has exhibited at Sydney Contemporary and Hong Kong Central Art Fairs. He is represented in public and private collections in Australia, Hong Kong, and England, with work currently hanging in the Australian Embassy in Beijing.

Connor the artist and architect has now faced up to that part of Sydney that is dread and wild. How much more seductive the simple joys of the inner harbour will seem to him by comparison.