Ian Banham was born in London. His mother had left her home town of Kidwelly in South Wales and gone to work in London with her sister. Whilst she was there she met and fell in love with Ian’s father who was from Port Talbot, a town very near to Kidwelly. Ian’s father was serving in the Welsh Guards and stationed at that time in London.

They married and eventually returned to live in Port Talbot in the early fifties. Ian’s father was an artist in his spare time and his passion for art rubbed off on to his son. At an early age Ian’s talent was spotted and nurtured by his art teacher, Pat O’Neill, in the local catholic school, St. Joseph’s in Port Talbot.

Ian regularly exhibits his work at the Loft Gallery in Carmarthen and also in the Windways Neuadd Afan Guest house, in the Afan Valley, close to the source of his “Ponty” landscape work.

Ian works mainly in oils and occasionally in sculptured art. Within his paintings Ian develops exciting textures and colours, showing off the beauty of the local areas in South Wales, the street scenes, landscapes and seascapes in vibrant semi-abstract form.