http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistApril 2016 51
I
n my paintings of both people and
landscape I aim to celebrate the
human capacity for awe. I am
attracted to subjects that make me stop
in my tracks, the way the light falls on a
form creating unexpected colour
relationships, or something that I find,
for want of a better description, just
beautiful.Formative years
I have been painting for the past 40
years. At art school I spent my
weekends working as a gardener,
tending the gardens of Sir Howard
Hodgkin. After completing my degree
course I moved to London and, as
Hodgkin’s assistant, helped to set up
his studios in Bloomsbury. In this work
I was exposed to the high end of the
London art market and eventually
worked for artists such as Barry
Flanagan. Barry was very encouraging,
but was convinced that I was a sculptor
rather than a painter, possibly becauseof my physique and my ability to lift
very heavy objects. After a while I felt
that I was becoming type cast as an
assistant rather than an artist. It was
time for a change.
In 1985 I decided to start my own
business as a gardener as a way of
supporting my painting. Through this
period I painted life studies, a few
portrait commissions and landscape
studies of my travels around the world.
But the mystery of how to earn a living
from my art still perplexed me. I would
need a studio of my own and time not
only to do the work, but also time to
market it. So far my marketing had
been very haphazard. I managed to buy
a small house in Twickenham and
started exhibiting in cafés and small
galleries, anywhere that would take me.
Gradually sales grew and prices
started to move upwards. I am now
selling at a price that can accommodate
the level of commission required to
keep galleries in business. Whenmaking a private sale I feel that it is
essential not to undercut the gallery
price. The galleries feel this way about
it too.Paint
The process of depiction has always
fascinated me. I have come to see paint
as a form of mud in different colours.
Most of it is dug up from the ground
and refined to optimise its brightness.
The work of the painter is to transform
this elemental substance by means of
some sort of shamanic alchemy into a
communicable image. One of my
favourite earthy effects is the brightness
of yellow ochre washed onto a white
ground. Many of my paintings start in
this way. I then wipe off the lighter
areas with a turpsy rag and paint in the
darker areas with burnt sienna. Winsor
& Newton’s burnt sienna has a brown
boot polish quality that combines well
with yellow ochre to make a bright
orange – I like to make a bright start toAn upward
Stephen Kingdescribes how, although
he likes ‘to make a bright start to a
painting’, paint with ‘a brown boot polish
quality’ is often a good starting point
Cow Parsley,oil on canvas,
24 32in (61 81.5cm)