WAYNE AT T WOOD
was precisely in trying to answer
that question that Attwood found his
calling. Having struggled for years for
somethingtosay,hefinallyhada
purpose. He set about exploring
throughhisartwhyhefeltthisdeep
connectiontohishomecity.
Hisfirstmajorprojectonreturning
was to become artist-in-residence for
the renovation of Birmingham’s New
Street station. Eventually given access
viaanenthusiasticmarketing
department, Attwood spent two years
visiting the construction site every
couple of weeks. He painted on
location initially yet soon realised the
large industrial lighting required
underground was distorting hisperceptionofcolourandleadtohis
pictureshavingagreencast.This
forcedachangeinapproachthat
continuestoday,ashenowfavours
creatingstudiesonlocationthathe
later works up into more expressive
studio paintings. “Having that cushion
betweenmeandthesubjectmeans
I can be more creative and playful
with them,” he reveals.
The New Street experience also
reminded Attwood that his real
interest wasn’t just urban scenes but
rather the people that within them.
Hehassinceexploredtheworksof
Walter Sickert and Édouard Vuillard,
tryingtocapturesomeoftheintimacy
of their paintings in the likes of hisown A Quick Pint on
a Sunday Afternoon,
which caused a stir
at the Royal Institute
of Oil Painters annual
exhibition in
December. While it
was based on a
specific, well-known
pub in Birmingham’s
Jewellery Quarter, the
artist chose not to
name it because, he
says, “the painting is
not about the location,
it’s about the
atmosphere.”
The hope is that
through mining a very
personal connection
to a place, he will hit
upon something more
universal. “I’ve made
an active decision to
paint what I feel and
hopefully someone
will have the same
emotional attachment
to it.”
After exploring the world in search
of inspiration, Attwood has found it
closetohome.Hisloveforthelocal
art scene extends to him being vice
presidentoftheRoyalBirmingham
SocietyofArtists,ofwhichhehopes
to become the president following
theAGMinApril.Whileheremains
surprised that paintings of local
building sites have wide commercial
appeal,thesuccessofhisrecentwork
hasremindedhimtoalwayspaint
what he feels and try not to pre-empt
whatmightsell.“Itjustgoestoshowit
is sometimes down to this connection
we have with a place, which I probably
feelmoreacutelyfromtravellingfora
number of years. It’s what we do as
artistsreally:exploretheseconnections
that we have with each other.”
The RBSA Prize 2019exhibition runs
23Mayto22JuneattheRBSAGallery,
Birmingham. http://www.wayneattwood.comABOVEThe Green
Kiosk, St.John’s
Street, Valletta,
oiloncanvas,
61x61cm
LEFTShe Loves the
Winter Sun, But
Can’t Stand the
Cold,oiloncanvas,
91x61cmHaving a cushion between me and
the subject means I can be creative