About My Artistic Journey
Early
Inspiration
Early
Inspiration
I was born under the shadow of Pendle Hill in Lancashire in 1964 and lived in a terraced house with my parents and three siblings. During the week, we were surrounded by the industrial urban north and played out around the back streets and garages. It was not conventionally pretty, but it had a certain familiarity and homeliness about it. I can remember being sensitive to the changing atmosphere around me, from those grey November days, where the only colour was the reflections of lights on the wet pavements, to summer evenings, where the sky was ablaze with colour against the dark silhouetted rooftops.
At weekends, we would often head out for a picnic in the surrounding Lancashire landscapes and my small world would open out into wide rugged vistas and rolling skies. I still remember how my spirit soared as we roamed free in such a dramatically changing northern landscape. Often, we would return home early in the evening, leaving the warm tones of sunset behind us but I would carry them home in my memory and imagination.
Northern Skies
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life”
– Mary Oliver
I showed a propensity for drawing fairly early on in school and was encouraged by teachers and parents to develop it. I remember my dad buying me a book called ‘Learn to draw’ by Adrian Hill which inspired me to start a sketchbook, capturing details of the world around me. In secondary school a friend introduced me to the medium of soft pastels, which opened up a whole new world for me because it was a drawing medium which could be used in a very painterly way.
So I bought my first set of soft pastels and began to experiment with them, working from my own photographs of atmospheric landscapes. I found the process to be exciting, direct and wonderfully tactile. As I applied the pastel to the surface and blended with my fingers, I could almost feel the rolling forms of clouds and the rugged textures of mountains. The subtlety of the medium allowed me to capture the atmospheric layers within the landscape.
"I found the process to be exciting, direct and wonderfully tactile"
The Lake District
Professional Beginnings
I went on to train at Lincolnshire College of Art before returning to The North where I worked as an illustrator for the Pendle Heritage Centre. My heart was still very much in love with Northern Landscapes and the desire was growing in me to express this through my art. I began to build up a collection of work and to take part in exhibitions with increasing success. Within a short time, I became a professional artist, specialising in atmospheric landscape paintings and moody skies.
I began to create paintings of Lancashire, Yorkshire and the Lake District, and my soft pastel landscapes were soon represented in galleries across the North of England.
Soulspace Art Studio
The
Middle Years
The intervening years have involved collaborative exhibitions with poets, photographers, textile artists and sculptors and my atmospheric landscape paintings are now widely housed in private collections. Alongside my own practice, I lectured in Art & Design at Nelson and College before setting up my own art workshops at Art & Soul Studio Gallery in Padiham which I co-created with artist Stephen Ormerod and photographer Phil Darby.
In 2017 I went on to create ‘Soulspace Art Studio’, along with poet Jo Lewis (now my wife) and textile artist Jacqueline Smith. The studio is a wonderful, inspirational environment, where I continue to explore and to deepen my approach to landscape painting and to explore the connection between my inner and outer worlds.
I also share my skills and experience with other aspiring creatives through weekly drawing and painting workshops.
Pendle Gallery by the Weir
A New
Exhibition Space
In 2023, I opened my new exhibition space – Pendle Gallery by the Weir in Barrowford Park. it is a characterful cottage Gallery where I can showcase my originals, signed limited edition prints and cards.
Also on display is work from ‘Naked Soul’ which is a collaboration between myself and Jo, my wife, combining poetry and art.
Moodscapes
Artistic Developments
Since the early years of specialism in soft pastels, I have expanded my use of materials to include watercolours, oil paints and acrylics. In my search for different modes of personal expression, my paintings span areas of realism, romanticism, impressionism and abstraction.
Recently, the creative freedom of working in the studio has led to exciting developments in my approach and subject matter. My work continues to be inspired by landscape but I am increasingly interested in expressing something of the language of soul and spirit. This has led to a series of paintings which I call ‘moodscapes’. Often working ‘wet into wet’ with watercolour, these paintings evoke a sense of landscape but focus primarily on atmospheric effects.
Innerscapes
A New
Concept
It has also led to more abstract ‘innerscape’ paintings where, inspired by artists such as Mark Rothko, I am exploring the language of the soul through colour, tone, texture and surface. My approach here is to step out of my own way and allow the creative spirit to flow through in often unpredictable and profound ways.
Inspiring Artistry
“Evocative, moving, ethereal and spiritual”
Soulful Expressions
“You see beyond and paint the unseen details that draw out the heart and soul of the scene you have painted”