My work is drawn from direct observation, walking in the streets, watching, painting, drawing on location to discover what is typical about the vernacular. I hope to celebrate the spectacular to be found in the ordinary. I also look at quirky aberrations, the bits that don’t fit the puzzle, things that have been altered over time. I look beyond the surface of architecture and try to express the experience of a place.
I hope that my paintings reflect my understanding and passion for the fabric of cities;
bricks and mortar, plaster, concrete and steel, built up in layers and decaying in pieces.
People are conspicuously absent from my paintings, but are present by implication. I like to think that if a window is open, it is because someone opened it for air, then went to make some tea. As the years go by, people add things to the city, and take things away. Occupants die or move on, they put up signs and go out of business. Children throw stones and touch door frames which get dirty by the handle. These are the bits I like to study and inspect. These are the signs of the life of a city.
My wife and I left London in 1995 and currently live in Chicago where we are raising our three sons.
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
2011 St Cuthbert’s Mill Award for Watercolour at the R.I.
2008 The Turner Medal and Turner Award for Watercolour
2001 Most Innovative Use of Watercolour at the RI
1996 The Frank Herring Award for architectural painting at the RI
1994 The Frank Herring Award for architectural painting at the RI