Ken Messer was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, and was educated at the City of Oxford School. For some years he worked in the printing industry as Senior Studio Manager in charge of Art and Design at Pergamon Press. For the past thirty years he has been a freelance painter and designer. He has won three consecutive prizes in the prestigious Saunders Artist in Watercolour International competitions. His work has been published in five books and his work regularly appears in the annual open exhibition of The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours at the Mall Galleries. His work is permanently featured in the University of Oxford Shop in the High.