I began my art career as an illustrator in a publisher’s studio after studying art and graphics in Bristol. I am a self taught watercolour painter, constantly trying to extend and add to my skills in water-based media. I have exhibted on numerous occasions with the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour. I am a tutor of painting and run my own watercolour classes in Surrey and Sussex and in the Greek Islands. I also give lively and informative demonstraitons to art societies and groups thoughout South East England and am delighted to undertake commisssions of landscape subjects and house portraits.
I endeavour to re-appraise my style and technique on a regular basis and this has led me towards a mixed-media approach to my work, combining watercolour, acrylic, pastel and gouache. I am exhilarated by colour and surface and enjoy creating textured layers of dry-brushed colour that allow hints of complementary hue to glow through, thus creating an exciting surface of scattered, broken colour.
I specialise in landscape subjects, exploring the themes of man-made alongside the organic: buildings by water; structure emerging from a rocky cliff, sometimes with figures contributing to this theme, inhabiting the middle ground between buidings and the wildness of nature. I am inspired by downland, coastal scenes of the Uk and the Mediternean, cafe life and townscapes. I try to capture the sense of a place at a specific moment, season or time of day, always endeavouring to bring passion and immediacy to my work.
Chris was awarded the prestigious F DONALD BLAKE AWARD for a contemporary watercolour by the LINCOLN JOYCE gallery in 2006at the RI spring exhibition and also THE MATT BRUCE MEMORIAL AWARD for light and colour at the 2007 RI exhibition.