in painting

My painting is based on my interests in the media and pop culture. I began painting while at teacher training college. I attained a distinction in both my teaching and art work with an exhibition in Cambridge.. My early influences were the painters of the Pop Art movement in America and the UK, Roy Liechtenstein, Andy Warhol and David Hockney .My work then included paintings of the moon landings and large canvasses of everyday consumables in acrylic and gloss paint. In my previous work as a teacher I have actively encouraged the development of art throughout the curriculum. History of Art has always been an enormous interest of mine and this has served as starting point for many of my art lesson and visits to exhibitions. Developing use of different media such as collage, ceramics and screen printing in school was most rewarding. While teaching I studied for a B.A. with the Open University concentrating on the History of Art options. Highlight of this course was the Summer school in London studying the development of art in the 20th century. Painting was put on the back burner while I was teaching but over the last few years I have begun to experiment with portraiture, landscape and more recently architectural paintings of buildings and churches in acrylic paint. The use of bright, flat colours is becoming more prevalent in my paintings. My paintings were originally for my own personal pleasure but people have expressed an interest in my work and I now make it commercially available. My chief inspirations continue to be the artists of the Pop era such as Hockney, Warhol, Rothko, and Patrick Caulfield and also pioneers of 20th century art such as Picasso and Mondrian. Recent developments in art excite me, particularly site specific work (Richard Long) and installations by artists such as Antony Gormley, Damian Hurst and Rachel Whiteread.