Roy Alexander Kraty was born in Bournemouth, and was a self-taught artist who only began painting in his late 50's. He left school in 1926, during the General Strike, and became a book-keeper at the St Albans Brick Company.  During World War 2, he became a squadron leader in the RAF Intelligence, and a founder member of the Joint Intelligence Bureau, rising to Assistant Director of Intelligence. He began his art career in the mid-1960's with one of his paintings was chosen for the Ministry of Defence Christmas card in 1971, and from the national press coverage gained from this, he began getting commissions. His new career flourished upon his retirement in the early 1970's, when he soon began to exhibit around the country, and today his paintings appear in collections around the world.  He moved to Wetherby, Yorkshire, in 1985, where he spent his remaining years.