Painter who worked initially as an art adviser before becoming a full-time artist in 1998. During his career he travelled widely, painting in oil, tempera and watercolour. His pictures, sometimes on a vast scale, explored the effects of man and nature on changing landscapes. These included Crete, Italy and around Bembridge, in the Isle of Wight, where Island Fine Arts showed his work. Firmstone was an associate of RWS, showed elsewhere in London, won a number of awards and had work in corporate and private collections.