I have a website!!

'Summer Evening'

Wow, a website! I have my own website! It feels like a leap forward in my quest to take my art to the next level.

I'm so happy to have re-found my passion for art. I sketched and painted non-stop as a child, stopping around the time when teenage hormones kicked in and it wasn't cool. As I got older, bills to pay necessitated full-time jobs, add in a home and young family and I fell out of practice.

'Green Corner'

In no small part, thanks to Covid, I found myself with dare I say it, some additional 'me time' and began once again to do simple sketches, then tentatively picked up a paint brush. After much persuasion from my wife, I joined Instagram and began showcasing my work. To my amazement, people started following me, then asking could they buy them. An incredible boost to my somewhat fragile, out of practice artistic ego.

But those small squares don't always do justice to the work, so I've been thinking for a while it was time to create a gallery space and hopefully in time, a selling space. To have the ability to stretch out a bit and share more of what I do with you.

Catkins and Vintage books...

I'm often asked what inspires me? Time spent in the natural world, observing the unusual, colourful and obscure is never wasted and will often induce creativity. I’m forever collecting ideas and being a day-dreamer (my super-power) really helps. It also helps my wife is an interior stylist and will pull together a vignette I'll feel compelled to paint.

'Apple Tart in the Making'

Instagram too, has provided a rich vein. My love of vintage finds, so often depicted in my paintings, has led me to follow some amazing vintage dealers on Insta. Ark Antiques The Rustic Snug, Saltmill Vintage, Josobjetsd.art, Little Bee Homestore Janice Issitt, to name but a few. Their artistry at pulling together beautiful vignettes, really speak to me and I often can't resist bringing them to life on canvas.

Plagiarism is the greatest form of flattery, so I have been known to beg and borrow from my painting heroes: Frida Kahlo, Picasso, Gaudi, Matisse, Dali and Caravaggio to name a few...

'While you read...'

I used to paint using acrylics as I thought oils were reserved for those who could actually paint, but now I know better. The ability to re-work those buttery, wet, oils suits the procrastinator in me. I was once asked how I manage to get so much texture in my paintings. Simple, that will happen when you paint over something you don’t like and start again, and again...

So I hope you will subscribe and follow me on the next part of my artistic journey. If there's a painting you love or are interested in talking to me about a commission, please do get in touch.

Gavin

For sources of vintage inspiration head to:

Ark Antiques: https://www.instagram.com/arkantiques/?hl=en

The Rustic Snug: https://www.instagram.com/the_rustic_snug/?hl=en

Saltmill Vintage: https://www.saltmillvintage.com/

Josobjetsd.art: https://www.instagram.com/josobjetsd.art/?hl=en

Little Bee Homestore: https://www.instagram.com/little_bee_homestore/?hl=en

Janice Issitt: https://www.instagram.com/janiceissitt_life_style/?hl=en