Sunset on the Barbican in Plymouth, 2021

James Presley  

Artist Statement:

As of the last 2 years I have changed my direction and I do hope you like my new period.

When I grew up, I always wanted to be a rock star but never got that far. I spent many years working abroad, in Hungary, the Czech Republic and the U.S.A.

I started painting when I was 31 while I was in America. I loved the feeling I had when I did it and, apart from a couple of setbacks I haven't stopped since. I feel at one with the paint, the canvas and a brush and the ideas come from me with a certain amount of spontaneity and a great deal of emotion. I usually have an idea of colours and a basic shape or shapes in my head, but the rest just comes.

In 2007, I won Artist of the Year, in the abstract category, which I am quite proud of, but I'm not in MoMA yet. I want to go there, that's a dream, and to the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao.

I am now back to my roots in England, and I continue to paint and create. I hope you like what you see.

Update: In 2019 I was accepted for a place on the fine arts degree course at Plymouth University in the UK and decided that I would try a few different things out towards my portfolio. This has resulted in me changing my direction completely and I have now entered the realist period of my life. I am focusing on pubs, chip shops and Devon and Cornwall scenes from 'on location' movies as well as just beautiful places.

All my new pictures are done on 300gsm hot-pressed Arches or other quality paper.

Education:

I believe art can be a learned process, it is also natural and a matter of what we see, feel and where we allow our hands to dance on the canvas, or our hands dance without our minds controlling them. You can learn the techniques, but you cannot learn to tell your mind to be satisfied with the techniques you have learned. When I am with the paintbrush, I always feel like we are dancing together, sometimes harmoniously sometimes against each other. Sometimes we are dancing the Tango, sometimes a Waltz, sometimes we caress each other to a slow romantic dance and sometimes we are in aggressive moments of passion. If there is harmony, it is possible to produce something which shows harmony, if there is no harmony then you may as well put the brush down until you feel it come back.

I have studied PR/Media, web development and design. I was accepted on a Fine Art Foundation BA degree at Plymouth University.

Awards & Distinctions:

Artist of the Year 2007, Abstract Category, SAA (Society for All Artists)

Exhibitions:

Budapest, Hungary January 2003 PotKulcs. Gallery Cafe - solo
Budapest, Hungary March 2003 PotKulcs. Gallery Cafe - solo
Budapest, Hungary May 2004 ABB Gallery - solo
Budapest, Hungary October 2004 Cafe Miro Gallery - solo
Oxford, England May 2006 The Jam Factory - solo
Oxford, England July 2007 Art in Action Show - group
Ostrava, the Czech Republic from January 2011 - permanent Miro Pizzeria - solo
Ostrava, the Czech Republic July 2012 Colours of Ostrava Festival - group
Ostrava, the Czech Republic August 2013 Dul Hlubina - group

Artistic Influences:

When I started painting, I just started. I wouldn't really say anyone, or anything influenced me in the beginning until a friend of mine said to me "that looks like a Pollock." I said who is Pollock, I didn't know, but I do now. I read a lot about him, saw some of his paintings in London and while visiting The Tate Modern where some of his paintings are hung, I saw a lot of other work that I could relate to.

I paint what I feel, there is a lot of emotion involved, happy I hope. I don't try, I just love the connection I feel between my brush, my colours and my canvas. I suppose artists that have influenced me are Kandinsky, Rothko, Basquiat and perhaps Pollock a little. I also love Degas, Vermeer and Gaughin.

Tags:

Canvas, nature, realism, ocean, watercolour, seaside.