Edward Bullmore hailed from Balfour, Southland. He attended Canterbury University College, Christchurch, with Pat Hanly and Bill Culbert. Having taught at Tauranga Boys' College in the late 1950s he headed to Florence, with his wife and fellow artist, Jacqueline. The Bullmores spent six months in Italy and then in early 1960 relocated to London, staying until the end of 1969. During that time, Bullmore taught at various art schools, and exhibited widely, attracting critical attention from the art world. Amongst collectors of his work from this era was filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, who featured two of Bullmore's works in A Clockwork Orange (1971).