Malcolm Teasdale's roots are firmly planted in the North East of England, an area whose character and landscape has been defined by its industrial history. His forefathers were lead miners working the seams on bleak Alston Moor, and successive generations coal mined in Tynedale and close to Newcastle. Malcolm was born in Elswick, Newcastle in 1944, and lived and worked for much of his life around the city. Over the past 20 years he has lived in a market town in Northumberland.

Much of Malcolm's work has arisen from the industrial history of his local area. His love of these locations and his genuine admiration for the scenes and characters he recreates comes across in the strong sense of community and camaraderie that defines all of his highly evocative work. It is the honesty of his approach that sets his work apart from his contemporaries however; he has an extraordinary ability to convey the reality of everyday life and the atmosphere of each scene, rather than simply to recreate the literal image.