Fairfax-Lucy studied printmaking at the City & Guilds of London Art School and painting at the Royal Academy Schools. He has spent almost all his life in the countryside and his paintings are always about specific light, in a particular place and at a particular season and time of day. He started by painting mostly landscapes and still-life. He begins with a vision in his head, which is realised through sketches and goes on until he has found the atmosphere that he is looking for. This means that the still-life or interior has to remain ‘in place’ for a long time, notwithstanding the fact that the flowers may have dried up and the fish rotted. His first one-man exhibition was in 1971 at the New Grafton Gallery and he first exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Show in 1967. He has exhibited in many mixed exhibitions in London.