Raised in Falmouth, Cornwall, UK surrounded by natural beauty in a tourist town with a working port, the sea and ships as a constant presence in the background. I studied Art at Foundation in Falmouth, then university in Exeter, graduating in Fine Art painting in 1996. I lived in Aberystwyth, West Wales, and the East End of London before moving back home to Cornwall in 2003. I had a long period away from the art world, working contentedly for 13 years with young people with learning and physical disabilities, until compulsory redundancy and cutbacks closed the service in which I was employed. This encouraged a return to my own painting practise, which has since continued to develop.
"The sea is like a great mouth, eating"
Maggi Hambling
Although I was born in London, my background includes Cornish heritage and a Welsh great grandfather who left the family farm on the Llyn Peninsula in the late 1800's and went to sea, crossing the Atlantic in the last days of sail. He eventually settled in Falmouth, Cornwall, served on the 'Q' ship 'Mary B Mitchell', found work at the docks and married a local girl. Over 100 years later, the last family member to work at the docks retired. Cornish language titles feature for many of my works. Ancient Celtic language rooted in the land I call home. Poetic and beautiful yet unfamiliar and difficult to even pronounce.
"Machines are wonderful creations, because the concept, of course, is that a machine is a machine. That it behaves in a predictable way. Of course the other side of these machines, is that they don't always behave like machines. They have foibles and discontinuities and breakdowns and aggravations, in a way, they are living beings".
Suzanne Ciani
Ships are international, unchanged as they connect the world, yet disconnected and remote from the majority of people. Images of coastal houses first appeared in my work whilst at university, inspired by an article in an old 'National Geographic' about super tankers. The article featured images of the ill fated 'Amoco Cadiz', dramatically broken in two against a foreground of the distinctively Celtic, generations old, cottages in Portsall, Brittany. With a nod to Alfred Wallis, I painted them in a simplified style but removed the foundering tanker.
On a practical level, modern ships carry a tracking system I make use of, called AIS (Automatic Information System). This can be accessed on line to find the identities of vessels far on the distant horizon, where they've been, and where they're going. (For fellow ship-spotters, I use 'Marine Traffic' website/app). The revealed names of the ships often influence how pictures develop, and sometimes provide titles too.
Usually I paint in oils applied with palette knives or brushes. I will use canvas or wood to paint on, sometimes recycling used canvases. I tend to work from a sketched idea, memory or photograph to form the basis of the composition then build up the image reacting with the medium. Previous layers can often find themselves scraped back into and reused. I'm interested in mixing abstract compositional, conceptual, narrative and figurative elements. Anything from music, literature, conversations, to the colours and ever changing light effects at the coast are a constant influence.
Nicholas de Stael (1914-1955) remains my absolute favourite painter. JMW Turner (1775-1851) and Alfred Wallis (1855-1942) are amongst my favourite visual artists. I also appreciate L.S.Lowry (1887-1976) who painted many beautiful seascapes as well as his more well known works.
As well as painting, I work driving double decker buses around Cornwall. I really enjoy the practical community interaction with people in all kinds of scenarios whilst remaining a part of the background. Ideas that can find their way into my artwork.
I'm open to a wide range of artistic influences and am not surprised to find inspiration from unexpected places.
"I'm a cork on the ocean
Floating over the raging sea"
Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) - 'Til I die.
Thanks for looking.
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