Chris Dearden was born in Halifax, West Reading, but has been living in Northern Ireland since 1973, educated at Huddersfield College of Art.  He was a textile designer in Bradford and Belfast for eighteen years before painting full time and becoming a teacher of Painting and Watercolour in 1983.

He is a member of the Ulster Watercolour Society, The Watercolour Society of Ireland, and an associate of the Royal Ulster Academy.  He has had numerous solo Exhibitions in the last two decades in Ulster, and his works are included in many collections of local institutions, the media and local Government, BBC,UTV, Department of the Environment, Belfast Harbour Commissioners, Moypark, The National Trust.