I’ve been so lucky in my supportive patrons over the years. Without those few individuals who got stuck in and offered money (actual real life payment!) for my creative skills I wouldn’t have made it this far with my art/illustration career. So it’s particularly wonderful when there’s an opportunity to reconnect with an early memory in that strange journey. 10 years ago in fact. Very early after graduating from Newcastle University I was asked to create a painting of a commercial building, situated on a Cramlington business estate. The lovely people at Jotron UK wanted an artistic gift to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their business. Although, by their own admission, it perhaps wasn’t the most glamorous of subjects I remember feeling grateful for that opportunity.
Here’s the original Newcastle piece…
A decade later and it’s been my absolute pleasure to catch up with Jotron and create something new to celebrate the big 5o year anniversary! The business has sites in Newcastle and Norway, and it was the site at Tjodalyng in Norway that was to be the subject of this painting. It’s not easy looking back at how dark and unrefined my work felt then, but hopefully the latest piece shows how far i’ve evolved my technique and approach. At least the colours are a bit cheerier these days! And researching this piece has certainly put Norway on my list of places to visit.
So here’s the 10 year update…
