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About MikeMike is a professional artist, tutor and writer based in Hertfordshire, UK.
His style of painting is a mixture of traditional and expressive techniques using a variety of mediums, including watercolour, acrylic and oils. He demonstrates and runs workshops locally for art societies and education centres, details of which can be found on his Events page. Mike's work has also been featured in several magazines, including 'Leisure Painter' magazine, to which he is a regular contributor of articles. Influences: Born in West Yorkshire, Mike grew up surrounded by the rugged moorland landscape of the Brontës and Ted Hughes. Subconsciously, his eye has been coloured ever since by its legacy of grit- stone buildings and stark beauty. Mike's painting influences are diverse and include a love of Gainsborough’s loose pastorals, John Martin's Biblical skies and Van Gogh's emotional marks. However, he's just as likely to be inspired by movies or music! With a background in heritage, Mike is particularly drawn to places where the past seems to bleed into the present, where boundaries of time are thinly veiled. Along with this is a curiosity about our future legacy, of what we will leave behind in our landscape as our 'future fossils'. Trained as a scenic designer, Mike often visualises the subject as a stage set, open to rearrangement for dramatic purposes. He rarely paints a location exactly as he finds it, preferring to alter weather, lighting or viewpoint to suggest an alternate narrative. |
Biography
Education:
2016 - Focus Level 3 Award in Education & Training (RQF)
1989 - 92 UCE in Birmingham - BA (Hons) Theatre Design
1988 - 89 Huddersfield Polytechnic - Foundation Diploma in Art & Design
2016 - Focus Level 3 Award in Education & Training (RQF)
1989 - 92 UCE in Birmingham - BA (Hons) Theatre Design
1988 - 89 Huddersfield Polytechnic - Foundation Diploma in Art & Design
Awards:
2022 - British Art Prize 2022 Finalist (A&I magazine)
2021 - Sponsor's Award (Consensus HR) at the Big Art Fair, Hitchin
2018 - 'The Artist Magazine' TALP Open Finalist
2017 - 'The Artist Magazine' TALP Open Finalist
incl. 'St Cuthberts Mill Award'
Exhibitions:
2024 - Solo show 'Strange Land' at the Wynd Gallery Letchworth G.C.
2024 - Artist of the Month, solo exhibition at The Broadway Gallery, Letchworth G.C.
2020 onwards - Ongoing Group exhibitions at The Wynd Gallery, Letchworth G.C.
2023 - 'Samarivans' charity group show at Arkley Fine Art, Hitchin
2023/22/21 - Big Art Fair at Hitchin Town Hall
2022 - British Art Prize 22 at Oxo Tower Wharf, Southbank, London (A&I magazine)
2022 - Broadway Open Exhibition, Broadway Gallery, Letchworth G.C.
2020 - HVA Spring Group Exhibition - New Maynard Gallery, Welwyn Garden City
2019 - Group exhibition Baldock 4 at the old Town Hall, Baldock, Herts - (Herts Open Studios)
- Exhibitor at Patchings Art Festival, Notts.
2018 - 'The Artist Magazine' Open Exhibition, Patchings Art Centre, Notts
- Stotfold Watermill Summer Exhibition, Beds
2018/17/16/15/14 - Ayot St Lawrence Art Show, Herts
2017 - Herts Open Studios, Hitchin, Herts
- 'The Artist Magazine' Open Exhibition, Patchings Art Centre, Notts
- HVA Spring Group Exhibition - New Maynard Gallery, Welwyn Garden City
- 'Living Crafts' HVA Stand, Hatfield House, Herts
2016 - Artist-in-residence, Herts Open Studios, Baldock Arts Centre
- 'Up Your Street' Group Show - The Artnest, Hitchin, Herts
2015 - 'Horizons' Group Show - Nude Tin Can Gallery, St. Albans
2013 - Solo Show - Letchworth Arts Centre, Letchworth Garden City, Herts
- Copperbeech Art Gallery, Little Wymondley, Herts
- Group Show - Hitchin Town Trail, Hitchin, Herts
2005 - Solo Show - The Radlett Centre, Radlett, Herts
2004 - Solo Show - Questors Theatre, Ealing, West London
Member:
Visual Artists Association and The Wynd Gallery artist co-operative
Publications:
'Samarivans' charity exhibition book
Leisure Painter Magazine - 25 articles since 2019
Hertfordshire Life - Feb 2018
The Artist magazine - Oct 2017
TV:
'Wildcard' participant in Sky Arts 'Landscape Artist Of The Year 2016 and 2017'
Gallery: The Wynd Gallery, Letchworth Garden City
2022 - British Art Prize 2022 Finalist (A&I magazine)
2021 - Sponsor's Award (Consensus HR) at the Big Art Fair, Hitchin
2018 - 'The Artist Magazine' TALP Open Finalist
2017 - 'The Artist Magazine' TALP Open Finalist
incl. 'St Cuthberts Mill Award'
Exhibitions:
2024 - Solo show 'Strange Land' at the Wynd Gallery Letchworth G.C.
2024 - Artist of the Month, solo exhibition at The Broadway Gallery, Letchworth G.C.
2020 onwards - Ongoing Group exhibitions at The Wynd Gallery, Letchworth G.C.
2023 - 'Samarivans' charity group show at Arkley Fine Art, Hitchin
2023/22/21 - Big Art Fair at Hitchin Town Hall
2022 - British Art Prize 22 at Oxo Tower Wharf, Southbank, London (A&I magazine)
2022 - Broadway Open Exhibition, Broadway Gallery, Letchworth G.C.
2020 - HVA Spring Group Exhibition - New Maynard Gallery, Welwyn Garden City
2019 - Group exhibition Baldock 4 at the old Town Hall, Baldock, Herts - (Herts Open Studios)
- Exhibitor at Patchings Art Festival, Notts.
2018 - 'The Artist Magazine' Open Exhibition, Patchings Art Centre, Notts
- Stotfold Watermill Summer Exhibition, Beds
2018/17/16/15/14 - Ayot St Lawrence Art Show, Herts
2017 - Herts Open Studios, Hitchin, Herts
- 'The Artist Magazine' Open Exhibition, Patchings Art Centre, Notts
- HVA Spring Group Exhibition - New Maynard Gallery, Welwyn Garden City
- 'Living Crafts' HVA Stand, Hatfield House, Herts
2016 - Artist-in-residence, Herts Open Studios, Baldock Arts Centre
- 'Up Your Street' Group Show - The Artnest, Hitchin, Herts
2015 - 'Horizons' Group Show - Nude Tin Can Gallery, St. Albans
2013 - Solo Show - Letchworth Arts Centre, Letchworth Garden City, Herts
- Copperbeech Art Gallery, Little Wymondley, Herts
- Group Show - Hitchin Town Trail, Hitchin, Herts
2005 - Solo Show - The Radlett Centre, Radlett, Herts
2004 - Solo Show - Questors Theatre, Ealing, West London
Member:
Visual Artists Association and The Wynd Gallery artist co-operative
Publications:
'Samarivans' charity exhibition book
Leisure Painter Magazine - 25 articles since 2019
Hertfordshire Life - Feb 2018
The Artist magazine - Oct 2017
TV:
'Wildcard' participant in Sky Arts 'Landscape Artist Of The Year 2016 and 2017'
Gallery: The Wynd Gallery, Letchworth Garden City
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