Self taught or art school?
Technically both, I’ve pretty much taught myself everything I’ve learned in my career as a visual artist, but not without a background in arts education. I’ve been doing what I do since roughly four or five years old when I first picked up a pencil so I think the skill and love of it was always there.
I did an advanced GNVQ and then a Foundation course in Art and Design at Kidderminster College, followed by a BA in Fine Art Sculpture at Loughborough University School Of Art And Design. Afterwards I returned to my first passion in drawing which paved the way for teaching myself all the techniques I’ve learned in painting.
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
Narrowing it down to one is always a tough one! But I keep going back to the same piece which is ‘The Taking Of Christ’ by Michaelangelo Merisi De Carravaggio.
I think the composition as well as the technical skill used is truly magnificent, and clever in the multiple messages that Carravaggio attempts to communicate, the attention to detail on the sheen of the soldiers armour thus making us ponder self reflection, and the clever staging of himself in the scene as a witness to such an iconic biblical event not only cleverly brings it down to gritty earth, but is also a fantastic early example of toying with traditional depictions of holy subjects.
How would you describe your style?
A mix of abstract expressionist painting, hand made stencil printing, and fine detailing, which as a process I’ve learned from combining traditional approaches to landscapes, cityscapes, portraits and figurative pieces, and then trying to use whatever experimental and instinctive techniques I feel are appropriate to convey a dynamic emotional intensity in an art work, and to breath that same life into the subjects themselves.
At the start of my career I felt I needed to teach myself a rather traditional discipline to better understand the finer points of the craft and of composition, and to use these skills in the journey of eventually finding my own identity. My process now is a constant fusion of experimentation within this old fashioned process, and a way of blending two methods of working in interesting and versatile ways.
Where are your favourite places to view art?
When I’m travelling it seems, because you can chance upon and experience great art in unusual ways, whether that’s coming across some fantastic street art or seeing great buildings in the flesh. I consider architecture to be as valid as a visual form as the other arts; painting, sculpture, photography etc, so whenever I see a building I find stunning I consider that an artistic experience. Travelling also has a positive effect on my artistic state of mind when I happen to visit galleries, because I’m in a heightened state of emotion, somehow viewing art this way feels like an even more vivid and intense experience for me personally.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
Again several! But I’ll keep it to a few. To sum up;
JMW Turner, which is an obvious choice given my predilection towards colour and a heightened sense of drama in whatever the narrative. I love how Turner was able to make his scenes so powerful through great dramatic sweeps of colour and relative simplicity in the main focus details.
Edward Hopper, because I’m a big fan of film visuals as an artistic inspiration! For me his work has a very cinematic feel in how he depicts the mundane and ordinary, and in doing so gives it a subtle drama. Ordinary low key scenarios in Middle American towns and the discarded architectural relics of the suburbs explode with significance through his rather direct and tonal use of colour, and in doing so he made the everyday and easily forgotten look so vivid and intense. Visually he’s been a huge inspiration to my own approach.
Francis Bacon, because I can easily relate to how he strips the surface of the human facade and perfectly captures the inner turmoil, sense of fallibilty, and vulnerability of human nature. For me as a highly emotionally charged person, he is a role model visual artist for how I wanted to capture that same sense of intensity and inner emotion in my own figurative work.
What or who inspires your art?
The main inspiration for pursuing the path I chose are my family, they’ve seen my talent and encouraged me to keep going thorough thick and thin from the very beginning and I’ll always thank them from the bottom of my heart for that.
My other big passion and driving force aside from travel is music because it inspires how the colours in my art unfold, and is as important and relevant to my process as the painting part. whilst I have my favourite genres my musical taste is rather eclectic because how I build texture in a piece is largely inspired by the sounds I hear so I like to open my mind to whatever types of music can best inspire that fascinating imagery in my mind. I find that jazz or jazz inspired music, dub reggae and post punk are my favourite genres for that kind of visual inspiration because of the layers of sound and atmosphere within the music.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
In the leafy rural suburbs of Birmingham, which is a nice location actually because its near to the rail track that gets to the city, so I find the gentle hum of the train as it passes soothing, but there’s also some lovely countryside in my view. The studio is a converted space at the back of the house garage, with a skylight for extra intense light during the day and windows looking out onto the open fields and railway line for my visual fix!
Do you have any studio rituals?
Not really that many. Obviously I like my cup of freshly ground coffee as an energy fix before starting a project, and plenty of instant throughout the day!Refilling my paint jars and used mugs each day with fresh hot water, turps and brush cleaner for keeping the brushes in good knick. These days I really hate trying to paint and mix paint with discoloured water or white spirit! Generally just keeping the studio relatively neat as I work, or at least as tidy as possible, which is in sharp contrast to my early years when passion could easily possess me and I could completely ignoring clutter and mess for a long time! That said, that can still occasionally happen when burning midnight oil on a commission or project that grips me!
What are you working on currently?
A series of small landscapes for something called the artist support pledge, which is a group of artists who are putting their work for sale at reduced prices to combat the collapse in gallery sales in this current crisis.
When that is over I hope to undertake some of the plans I also have for the latest Flux exhibition.
What are your ambitions?
To keep doing what I do as an artist, and to keep pushing myself to being the best I can possibly be. For the time being I’m set on my style and proud of the identity I hope to carve out for myself, but theres always room for improving ones skills, as well as evolving as a person and reflecting what feels relevant to the time. I’m always keen to experiment with new ways of honing my skills and to pushing myself just that little bit further each time.
