Edward was born in 1989 and grew up in a seaside town on the east coast of Lincolnshire.
Throughout his school years he took an active interest in art always searching for interesting styles. Growing up by the sea, he was forever surfing the waves with his friends and this gave him his first idea for a style of painting, surfing silhouettes. He carried this style through his A-level course work and it is still proudly displayed in the sixth form block.
His style soon changed when he started at University. Being left to his own devices and interpreting the subjects he was given helped his creative mind. He was later to develop his current style after moving to Lincoln, being awestruck by the city buildings and becoming absorbed by the new structural surroundings, the vibrant lights and the noise of the city. A massive contrast to his seaside upbringing.
‘I found myself looking upwards and often tripping up as I walked around the city.’
Painters Kiefer, Pollock and Kline were influences as he studied for my Fine Art Degree. Pollock’s process capturing physicality, Keifer’s surfaces marks and layering provoking mood and Kline’s gestural composition are all referred to as he paints.
Says, Edward, ‘I work with urban scenes rather than rural landscapes as I see the countryside as a picture already created, however within an urban environment it is often necessary to create a picture of beauty using the architecture and cities in which we live and visit…
My work develops as I build experience with those cities and I believe I create a direct and tangible feel. I start by drawing in sketchbooks which are filled with continuous marks, responding to my subject in a quick and portable way. The process of walking and drawing and the desire to keep repeating makes me look deeper and harder at my surroundings. Each page shows a single view, but collectively placed they form a large composition, collapsing the same subject together. Topographical detail then becomes embedded at a much deeper level.
The sketches are then transformed into paintings that register and transcend my subject matter in a very fluid and expressive way. At that point my paintings become subsequent responses where feelings, reinterpretation and imagination are applied.’
Having been a painter since 2002, Edward’s style has now developed and has been greatly influenced by his two years of travel. He has now become a full-time professional artist and his passion for art and travel remains as strong as ever.
