For most of his professional life Alfred Leete has been known only by his proper name Douglas Champion, adopting his nom de brush as a painter of ships and the sea after closing his Toronto design office in 1980.

Leete was born in London, England, and raised in the historic Thames estuary town of Leigh-on-Sea, in Essex. After graduating in art and design, he secured a position in a London design office, and was so employed at the outbreak of World War II. Serving in the navy he saw action with both the Home and Eastern Mediterranean Fleets.

Leete's post-war career history includes several years of field work in Egyptian archaeology ("Egypt was a rich and rewarding experience that helped shape my thinking as an artist," he says), following which he returned to London to resume his career in graphic and industrial design.

Responding to the urge, as he puts it, "to do something about all that sea water still sloshing about in my subconscious," Leete, in the last several years, has pursued his life-long interest in marine art, producing a body of work on themes ranging from the war at sea, to traditional sail and the age of steam.

"It is my endeavour," says the artist, "to produce work in the best tradition of the genre, most ably expressed by artists who have experienced a close relationship with the sea. That intimate contact with the subject is, I believe, essential to the artist's understanding of it, and, therefore, to the successful outcome of a painting."

The artist and his family live in Toronto, the city they have called home since 1967.