Sculptor who spent his youth in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, where he attended Hatfield School, then did a foundation course at Hertfordshire College of Art and Design, St Albans, later the faculty of art and design at the University of Hertfordshire. He won an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award, 1985. In 1986–8 he was a Rome Scholar in Sculpture, in the latter year taking part in a group show there. In 1989, Elson was included in East End Open Studios at Angel Studios. Elson was fascinated by the methods of industrial production, admiring the skills, knowledge, casting techniques and processes used in the manufacture of common objects. This was reflected in his solo show Hatfield and The North at the faculty in 2002.