laughter. I took copious notes as David took us through his early influences with some great photos,
David's Father was, in his words 'an aviation nutcase', he was also a brilliant aeromodeller whose first job was at Croydon airport working for Sir Alan Cobham a pioneering aviator . David & his dad watched the first public flight of the Red Arrows in 1965 together at Biggin Hill.
From an early age, David also loved nature - This waxwing was painted by he when he was aged 6, he's captured the essence of a waxwing hasn't he?
His interest in life drawing also began at an early
age
By the age of 13, David was visiting galleries and
hooked on art, and after a spell of work experiences , including in a tax
office, his mind was made up, he wanted a career in art, and worked in many
jobs, including on cross channel ferries to fund his art education .
After art college, his began to exhibit his work including as shown in
the photo below.
There were audible gasps in the audience when this
photo was shown! It was the 1970’s. During this period of time,
David undertook a variety of jobs to support his art practice
- including in the theatre, gold and silver industry , Cyprus and
began work as a youth worker. At this time , he was based at the Harrow Club,
in Freston Road - adjacent to Frestonia - where a group of
people had declared independence from the government. In
the same year David got an Arts Council Grant , his work included painting
large scale murals including on skateboarding. In parallel, David
started a small computer graphics company called Spectre Graphics. He also
traveled extensively , including to India , the Himalayas and Equador Peru
and Costa Rica Central America . In 1986 David had an exhibition at Lauderdale House in Highgate. He
then moved to a potting shed in the country to peruse his art
practice more fully, taking on a number of adult art classes to sustain
his work. At this time , David met Carole who became his wife. They
moved to Swindon in 1995 when Carole was headhunted for a senior
role at WHSmith Head Office. Since being in Swindon, David has built up his
studio practice including creating the Movement 2000 series of paintings
which you can't see properly here, but can be seen on his website.
In 2000’s David’s early aviation influence came to the
fore , when he pioneered a new approach to modern aviation art. Supporters
include the Red Arrows who invited him to collaborate as artist
in residence, leading to his series of paintings shown below.
At the end of the talk, David was presented with a
cake decorated with one of his paintings, here's Carole showing an ‘
aerobot ‘ art work that had been just been given to them by an A
level student who had been inspired by David’s work
and here's a photo of David, Carole and Sherill Semple,
a supporter of David’s work and Ambassador for Flying Scholarships for
the Disabled. She had driven from Lincolnshire to come to
this Friends Talk and brought this amazing cake with her as a surprise
gift !
