Keith Towler completed a Fine Art Degree in 1981 at Exeter College of Art and Design and had some early recognition as a painter and printmaker. He won a Maskreys Printmaking Award in 1982 and in the same year was a prize winner at the National Eisteddfod of Wales Printmaking Competition in Swansea. A Welsh Arts Council Young Artists Award followed in 1983 and a move to Birmingham saw him exhibiting locally there before focusing on a career working with young people in social work, youth justice and children’s rights. He completed a seven year term of office as the Children's Commissioner for Wales in 2015.

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He has maintained an active interest in youth work and children’s play but is now dedicating more time to painting and drawing. Taking inspiration predominantly from the landscapes of Wales, he works on site with his sketchbook and iPhone camera using these as reference material for developing his paintings and drawings in his studio in Llandeilo.