Sculptor in various materials who attended Sunderland University, 1989–93. He was one of the artists who worked at Grizedale Forest, then at schools in Sunderland and Hartlepool before co-founding Central East Studios in Sunderland. Paton exhibited in London and the northeast, where he completed private and public commissions. From 1997–9 he was artist-in-residence at Herrington opencast stone quarry, Penshaw, and while there he carried out the striking works Spires and John’s rock, commissioned by the City of Sunderland, English Partnerships and RJB Mining.