Breeze

A fantastic opportunity to own a John Mackie original painting of Jamaica bridge in Glasgow, at a price you choose.

Proceeds from this silent auction go towards the Phoenix Community & Opportunity Centre.

Please note this silent auction has now ended.

A huge thank-you to all our customers who were able to join us in all four galleries across the weekend.  Our John Mackie events in Peebles, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Loch Lomond Shores were a huge success with great interest shown in both the fabulous art work and, indeed, John himself.

Before setting off on his whistle-stop tour of our galleries John visited our offices to personally sign all of the new limited edition prints now available.

View some of John Mackie’s art online here at the breeze gallery.

Goldie by Paul James

Limited Edition Print on Paper:
25 x 25 inches

Mounted Price: £345

Gywneth by Paul James

Canvas Print
24 x 26 inches

Mounted Price: £345

Paris & Nicole by Paul James

Limited Edition Print on Paper:
26 x 23.5 inches

Mounted Price: £345

Out To Grass by Paul James

Limited Edition Print on Paper
16 x 24 inches

Contact Us For Price

Morning In Autumn by Paul James

Limited Edition Print

Contact Us For Price

Jock by Paul James

Print on Canvas
40 x 50 inches

Contact Us For Price

Gwyneth – A Glimpse by Paul James

Limited Edition Print on Paper:
24 x 7.5 inches

Mounted Price: £175

Gorgeous George by Paul James

Canvas Print
24 x 26 inches

Contact Us For Price

Charlie On Grass by Paul James

Limited Edition Print on Paper: 24 x 24 inches

Framed Price: £485

Reserve Price : £250.00

Remember to place your bid above the reserve

Free main land UK delivery

Bridge 32 by Paul James

Limited Edition Print on Paper: Large or small sizes available

Contact Us For Price

At The End Of The Day by Paul James

Limited Edition Print on Paper: 28 x 20.5 inches

Contact Us For Price

Title: A Walk Home

Artist: John Mackie

Image size: 22″ x 16″

Price: £435.00

Limited Edition

MOUNTED/UNFRAMED

Reserved Price: £90.00

Click on the image to expand the artwork

This piece of artwork is now available in our silent auction. To place a bid for this piece of art simply fill out the form below.

Click here to learn more about our silent auction and to view more available pieces in our auction.

My Favourite Place by John Mackie

Limited edition print looking over the Tweed bridge to the Scottish Borders town of Peebles

Image size: 22″ x 16″

Price: £425

Early Spring, Peebles Mug based on art work by John Mackie

£9.95 boxed

Evening Walk, Peebles Mug also available

Evening Walk, Peebles Mug based on art work by John Mackie

£9.95 boxed

Early Spring, Peebles Mug also available

Contemporary images of Paul James’s traditional animal paintings on a backdrop of modern day graffiti are sure to hit the mark with many art collectors. The collection includes quirky images of much loved animals including a swan, a duck and cows set on these spellbinding backgrounds. The originals for a number of this latest collection will be on display during Paul’s gallery appearances in all breeze art gallery locations throughout Scotland, 23-25th April. Signed limited edition will also be available.

Leicestershire-born artist Paul James is a remarkable and fascinating man. He is a gifted wildlife, animal and landscape artist and an amazing composer and pianist.

His artistic and musical abilities became apparent from a relatively early age and with the support and encouragement of his parents he is essentially self taught.

It was the haunting beauty of the nearby Charnwood Forest that greatly influenced his early atmospheric landscape and animal paintings for which he became renowned.

Paul James will be touring all the breeze galleries with a stunning collection of originals and his latest limited edition collection, some of which have never been seen in this country.

Call 01389 720 341 for more information

Contemporary images of Paul James’s traditional animal paintings on a backdrop of modern day graffiti are sure to hit the mark with many art collectors. The collection includes quirky images of much loved animals including a swan, a duck and cows set on these spellbinding backgrounds. The originals for a number of this latest collection will be on display during Paul’s gallery appearances in all breeze art gallery locations throughout Scotland, 23-25th April. Signed limited edition will also be available.

Leicestershire-born artist Paul James is a remarkable and fascinating man. He is a gifted wildlife, animal and landscape artist and an amazing composer and pianist.

His artistic and musical abilities became apparent from a relatively early age and with the support and encouragement of his parents he is essentially self taught.

It was the haunting beauty of the nearby Charnwood Forest that greatly influenced his early atmospheric landscape and animal paintings for which he became renowned.

Paul James will be touring all the breeze galleries with a stunning collection of originals and his latest limited edition collection, some of which have never been seen in this country.

Call 0141 221 0189 for more information

Contemporary images of Paul James’s traditional animal paintings on a backdrop of modern day graffiti are sure to hit the mark with many art collectors. The collection includes quirky images of much loved animals including a swan, a duck and cows set on these spellbinding backgrounds. The originals for a number of this latest collection will be on display during Paul’s gallery appearances in all breeze art gallery locations throughout Scotland, 23-25th April. Signed limited edition will also be available.

Leicestershire-born artist Paul James is a remarkable and fascinating man. He is a gifted wildlife, animal and landscape artist and an amazing composer and pianist.

His artistic and musical abilities became apparent from a relatively early age and with the support and encouragement of his parents he is essentially self taught.

It was the haunting beauty of the nearby Charnwood Forest that greatly influenced his early atmospheric landscape and animal paintings for which he became renowned.

Paul James will be touring all the breeze galleries with a stunning collection of originals and his latest limited edition collection, some of which have never been seen in this country.

Call 0131 220 2655 for more information

Contemporary images of Paul James’s traditional animal paintings on a backdrop of modern day graffiti are sure to hit the mark with many art collectors. The collection includes quirky images of much loved animals including a swan, a duck and cows set on these spellbinding backgrounds. The originals for a number of this latest collection will be on display during Paul’s gallery appearances in all breeze art gallery locations throughout Scotland, 23-25th April. Signed limited edition will also be available.

Leicestershire-born artist Paul James is a remarkable and fascinating man. He is a gifted wildlife, animal and landscape artist and an amazing composer and pianist.

His artistic and musical abilities became apparent from a relatively early age and with the support and encouragement of his parents he is essentially self taught.

It was the haunting beauty of the nearby Charnwood Forest that greatly influenced his early atmospheric landscape and animal paintings for which he became renowned.

Paul James will be touring all the breeze galleries with a stunning collection of originals and his latest limited edition collection, some of which have never been seen in this country.

Call 01721 721 684 for more information

One of my earliest memories of being an artist is when I was 6 years old painting with poster paints at the kitchen table while the family were fixed in front of the TV. Using stolen architectural (just finished) drawings of my Dads I would be filling in all the rooms in colour and drawing people stood next to the buildings. I’ve never seen my Dad so upset and angry, but he is now my biggest fan.

From a design and fine art background in Northampton I went on to win the Daily Mail’s ‘Artist of the Year’ award in 1992. After finishing my training I found an artist life very difficult to establish and a designer’s one very frustrating. So after this I found myself in the motor sport business ranging from world rally to formula one – travelling worldwide for the next 5 years. Having seen so much of the world whilst doing this it changed my whole outlook on life, but I never put down my drawing pad constantly sketching cars and scenery at any spare moment. Never feeling quite at home constantly living out of a suitcase, I would produce art pieces when back at home and sell at local galleries which then brought in commissions from various people. Leaving the race track and ‘go go’ lifestyle behind has changed everything for me.

For the last 3 years I have devoted all of my time to art on glass which is my preferred medium, using a unique style of oil painting as opposed to the more traditional canvas or board.
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Ideas & Inspirations.

From early in my teenage years a quote has never left my mind.. “Life’s too short. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you may miss it. I’m looking all the time. I get annoyed when I see a spectacular sky and all the people around me are doing there day to day routines, missing what is happening above there heads. This life is too short so I’m trying to remember as much of it as I can. Landscapes and skies are constantly changing, giving a constant flow of inspiration which I enjoy exploring. I love being able to capture a moment in time.

Many sketches are taken of the countryside which I record in a book as well as digital images. I store these alongside my sketches of anything from the Lake District to Hanoi. When back in the studio I can use these images to transport myself back to my thoughts and plan out a design of the picture to develop on glass.

I do like to challenge myself with difficult work. Painting oil on glass can make you want to tear your hair out, but is also satisfying at the same time. When I sit down to paint I want to paint better than the last time; pushing the boundaries of what I can do. Once I finish a painting I want people to look at the piece and be drawn in and find themselves lost in my work.
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From Palette to Picture.

After many years of being taught by my tutors about canvas painting and techniques, all has had to be changed to teach myself to paint on glass.

My work uses a mix of everything I’ve learnt from drawing, design and screen printing to photography. The initial ideas for a painting will begin with the design taken from drawings and photos. The whole process is done back to front; the complete opposite of any normal painting on canvas. The foreground is painted first and in most cases this section of paint is left drying for up to a week before the next layer is applied.

Many pieces of work are produced at one time, so it can be quite difficult to remember at which stage each painting is at. I apply different coats of paint with brushes, homemade tools, craft knives and my fingers to move the paint before and after the oil sets, creating all the types of effects I can before it’s fully dry. This makes for a different, but effective and unique view of oils and their vibrant colours.
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A day in the Life of…

My day starts at 7am – up and out taking my fiancée Emma to the local station for her London design job. After waving her goodbye I’m back home to start my day with a coffee and some music. In my studio today is a new piece to start which I’m rather eager about because I’ve been planning it for a few days now. I clean up some new glass and working from my sketched designs I mask out the size of the picture, making a few marks to sort my composition of the landscape. The first part of this water scene is the foreground. All the reeds and some touches of reflections in the water are first as I’m painting all this back to front with my hands under the glass painting upwards which sounds strange, and looks even stranger. This part is taking some time and is very detailed and takes up most of the morning.

A quick lunch then back to finish it. It’s all dark brown in colour which only takes a week to dry – some take a lot longer. It’s painstaking but satisfying and as this can be rather fiddly it takes up most of the day. At 3.30 I’m off out to draw a landscape I saw the other week when out seeing family. Sitting out with my drawing pad is great and I love doing this, but oils and glass don’t work well outside. After 4 drawings and a couple of photos I’m back to my favourite spot to catch the sunset burning the clouds which will look great for my next piece. I then pack up and time it well to pick up Emma from the station on my return at around 7.30pm. We discuss our day over dinner and relax in front of a movie; transporting us to another place.

Over the years I have discovered that I work better at some times of the day than others and that my creative energy is not a 9 to 5 commodity! For this reason, a typical working day for me starts early – I am usually in my studio by 7am. This is the time when I work on paintings in progress, refining the images to achieve the precise effects I need to communicate the particular subject. Then after a short break for lunch I work on new compositions. I find this is the most productive time of day for me, when I am best able to give full concentration to my painting without any distractions. This period requires a great deal of energy however, and when 4 o’clock arrives I am usually ready to stop for the day – and start looking forward to that Vodka and Tonic… Of course I also spend a great deal of my working life out and about; while I love to paint locally, I have also travelled extensively around the UK and Europe in search of inspiration.

The Creative Impulse…

For me inspiration comes from confrontation with nature which demands a response; a sunset, a heavy shower, powdered snow, sunrise over a loch, any or all of these elements might dictate the form that the response will take. I contemplate the landscape with amazement as it changes hourly, yet remains fundamentally the same. This is a concept I love to explore in my paintings – a blazing sunset reflected in a calm sea carries the implication of impending darkness, while heavy clouds in an overcast sky might predict an imminent storm…

I have painted since childhood, so I have a long history of creative influences; the two most lasting however have been Fred Cuming RA and Ken Howard RA.

The Creative Process…

I have always been attracted to coasts and seascapes in general, as I love the sense of infinity and endless searching that they give me. The subject of my next work will usually come to me when I am out by the sea, feeling at one with nature and the elements, and at this time I know what direction the composition will take. Back in my studio the painting begins to take shape in reality, and I aim to recreate both what I have seen and my own emotional response to it. I prefer to paint using oil as I find that this is the medium most adaptable to changes of light and mood.

Background…

Peter was born in 1946 in Middlesex. On leaving school he went straight into his first job as a studio junior for a card company, where his innate artistic talent was recognised. Here he spent five years studying lettering and design – his first artistic training – which gave him a solid grounding in colour awareness and formal structure. Peter then moved on to become art editor on a number of magazines, until finally he tired of the rat-race and set himself up as a freelance illustrator. His years of experience stood him in good stead, covering as they did, all aspects of design and illustration, from greeting cards and posters through to portraits and Limited Edition Prints. Working freelance gave Peter the opportunity to concentrate on his painting, and he has produced a substantial body of highly expressive work inspired by Britain’s coves and harbours. His large-scale compositions have a painterly quality derived from the apparent vigour of the brushstrokes and the impression of spontaneous creativity, which make them both dramatic and uplifting. Peter’s work has been recognised with various awards including the Frank Herring award at the Mall Galleries in London and the Cornellisen Prize for Outstanding Work 2002. Over the last six years he has exhibited regularly at a number of prestigious art venues including the Royal Society of Marine Artists, the New England Art Club and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters of which he now holds the position of president.

Peter describes his work as representing a ‘visual diary’ of his life and experiences growing up in the North of England. His evocative industrial images are realistic but affectionate portrayals of a vanishing world that is linked to his personal ideas of family, friendship and childhood.

Shipyards, docks, engineering works and steelworks provided the visual background to Peter’s childhood in the North East of England. From the crossbar of his father’s bicycle he was introduced to the industrial scene and the landscape of the street, and these were the elements that informed his artistic vision.

Peter has been a successful artist for over 35 years. He was born in 1942 in Hartlepool and trained as an artist in Hartlepool and Leicester. From 1968 he worked as a tutor with the College of the Sea (now the Marine Society) and travelled all over the world painting, drawing and teaching aboard merchant ships. After three years as a lecturer in Norwich, he turned to painting full time and now lives and works in the Scottish Borders.His images have been exhibited and sold in galleries all over the world, and several of his works are held in the collection of The National Maritime Museum.

Dynamic young artist Pei Yang was born in YangZhou, China in 1971. Pei began his art studies in high school and won a diverse range of prizes both in competitions and for his personal exhibitions. In 1994 Pei relocated to Canada and embarked on a Fine Art course at the Ottowa School of Art and then the Algonquin College in Ottowa.

Pei’s remarkable technical ability as a painter is complemented by his skillful manipulation of colour to create a luminous light that captivates the eye. His striking still lives, interiors and landscapes demonstrate his versatility, but although the genre is varied his style remains highly recognisable, and all his glowing compositions celebrate the medium of paint as well as his chosen subject.

Since 1989 Peis paintings have been exhibited in galleries and government buildings in Canada and China. He has also produced artwork for Columbia Studios and Dreamworks, and has won an Emmy award for his animation. Pei now lives and works in Montreal.

A Walk Down The Champs Elysees by John Mackie

Original oil painting by this renowned and highly collectable Scottish artist

Image Size: 76cm x 61cm

Price Framed: £4000

Born in Tanganyika, East Africa to an Austrian mother and Scottish father, Pam moved to Scotland at the age of thirteen. She graduated from Glasgow School of Art in the seventies and immediately embarked on a career in teaching. After being based in Braidfeild High School for four years, she took a year out to study in Chicago, then spent a further two years teaching art in the glorious setting of the Seychelles. From the mid-eighties she taught in various colleges until in August 2004 she gave up her academic career to concentrate on painting full time.
Pam’s dazzling seascapes originate on the rugged West Coast of Scotland with its isolated cottages and wild colours and amongst the majestic cliffs and fishing villages of the East Coast. In her own words: “A sense of a place is important in my work but for me it’s not about capturing a scene with complete accuracy. Sometimes it is the elements and the untamed force of nature that inspire, but more than anything it is the essential quality of the light which can be found in the Scottish land and seascape. I often interpret the scene with abstract elements allowing the paint to work for me. I translate this light in terms of contrast and colour – often bold but always with subtlety and balance. I ultimately want to create a visual sensation and pleasing image.”

Pam’s award winning artwork is held in an impressive range of private and corporate collections. She has also held numerous solo exhibitions throughout Britain and in the USA and has participated in several group shows including the Royal Scottish Society (RSA), the Royal Glasgow Institute (RGI), Visual Arts Scotland (VAS), and the Paisley Art Institute (PAI). She gained an award from each of the latter three venues.

The Creative Day…
I’m a habitual early riser, as at 6.30 in the morning my four noisy dogs are already asking to be taken for a walk. This is a lovely way to start the day as I’m an outdoor girl at heart, and whatever the weather it sets me up for a productive few hours. After breakfast, I always try to be in the studio by 8.30, and as it’s a room that we built on to the garage I have no excuse to be late. I generally try to work through to the early evening, when once more I take the dogs out and, if time allows, pay a visit to the gym. In some ways it’s a solitary day, but the hours fly by and I thoroughly enjoy my work. I am naturally quite a shy person and I find painting is a great way of expressing myself, and saying what I really feel!

The Creative Impulse…

I have many passions, which are as varied as life. They include animals, fashion, the great outdoors… all these things have inspired me to paint. I also love to travel both for the sheer pleasure of seeing the world and for the opportunity to store up ideas for my next set of paintings! I often feel that rather than me choosing a subject, it chooses me through my own emotional response to something. I may be laughing at a funny face, feeling becalmed by a beautiful sky, or experiencing excitement looking in a shoe shop window…! All these things make me feel the urge to pick up a paintbrush and go for it! I have learnt to make sure I am never without my sketch book in one hand and my camera in the other, as I need to record these ideas on paper to remind me of exactly how I felt at the time.

My grandad was always drawing pictures to amuse me, and I have an uncle who is an artist; these two individuals probably represent the strongest personal influences on my work. I do admire a great many famous artists of course, but am unable to cite any one in particular as being a major figure in my artistic development.

The Creative Process…

I am an avid photographer and never go anywhere without my camera. I take masses of photographs of anything that catches my eye, and file these images away for future use and inspiration. I also make sketches as they are often the thing that gives me the “angle from which I want to approach a subject. I love to work with inks and handmade paper, as these media offer me endless possibilities; there are so many fantastic textures of paper available nowadays, and the inks react differently with each of them. I have spent years examining the way the inks bleed and how the colours react and combine on the papers. I love the idea that the tools of my trade make such a strong contribution to the finished composition; if I had used an alternative paper the image might have looked quite different, which means I really do have to get to grips with the properties of my chosen materials. Recently I have also begun to use acrylics on canvas as I love the quality of the colours, and again, the texture of paint on canvas.

Background…

Nicky’s background is in fashion and textile design. Having graduated from Winchester School of Art in 1991, she moved into a highly specialised career as a milliner. Here her exceptional skills helped her to build a loyal and substantial client base amongst both private buyers and major agencies. In 1997, Nicky decided to focus her creative talents in two entirely new areas – fine art painting and interiors. With a wide network of contacts made over the previous six years she found a ready audience, and with their encouragement she finally gained the confidence to concentrate full time on her drawing and painting. Nicky’s passion for pattern, texture, form and colour are apparent in all aspects of her work. Highly textured handmade papers and vibrant coloured inks form an effective medium for her enchanting subjects; the inks bleed into the paper in a manner reminiscent of fabric painting; a trademark of Nicky’s work that owes a lot to her background! Cats, dogs, handbags, shoes, furniture… just about anything that is found around the house has been turned into something memorable by her witty and observant hand. A genuine outdoor girl, Nicky’s mountain biking, snowboarding and hiking have brought her into close contact with some magnificent scenery which has inspired her latest venture: a stunning set of seascapes on wood and canvas. Bold and imaginative, she adds a range of iridescent paints to the acrylics, altering the effect of each piece; as the light changes the image seems to fade along with the day.

“I am thrilled to be able to put a smile on someone else’s face through my art!

James was born in Manchester in 1966 into an artistic family. At school he was considered outstanding and from a very young age he was actually taken out of lessons to paint. He received commissions from staff and parents and as a teenager he was runner up in a major art competition. So in the matter of a career choice he says quite simply, “there was no choice!”

After studying at Tameside College of Art James set up his studio in Cheshire. As a result of featuring in a series of successful one-man shows in th local area, he quickly established a formidable reputation in the artistic community as a creative and versatile young talent.

In the early days James was inspired by unconventional outdoor scenes that combined interesting shapes, textures and colours; a particular favourite was his local scrapyard, especially on a rainy day. He liked to explore the idea of man’s incursion on the environment and the obvious next step for his work was the cityscape. With success came the opportunity to travel the world in his quest to absorb the sights, sounds and atmospheres of his chosen subjects, and this experience has informed his stunning depictions of New York as well as various European locations .

James loves to experiment with art materials and creates his atmospheric images in a wide variety of media. He exhibits in galleries in Europe, the USA and across the UK and has a range of prestigious private and corporate collectors. His work in on show in the boardrooms of such prestigious companies as BT and Siemens.

James’s powerful, ultra-stylish compositions stop us in our tracks as effectively as the speeding Ferraris they portray. A striking example of modern male success, James is talented, innovative and competitive, with that traditional masculine weakness for the sexier things in life – particularly fast cars. His images contrast the myriad greys of sidewalks and skyscrapers with occasional ventures towards the bolder end of the spectrum. To achieve this distinctive look, James approached a bespoke pastel manufacturer and had over 50 different shades of grey individually created ranging from oyster to ash, from iron to dove, from seawashed pebbles to cloudy skies. These allow him to describe every nuance of concrete, smoke and sky to stunning effect with minimal use of the more conventional range of colours, a stylistic achievement which has won him a unique place on the contemporary art market.

Jack Vettriano was born in Fife in 1951. He grew up in the industrial seaside town of Methil and left school at 16 to become an apprentice mining engineer. He took up painting as a hobby in his twenties and his earliest images were copies or pastiches of impressionist paintings.

Jack’s breakthrough year was 1988, when he felt ready to display his paintings in public and submitted two canvases for the Royal Scottish Academy annual show. Both paintings sold on the first day and he was approached by several galleries who wanted to sell his other work. The success and attention contributed to the breakdown of his first marriage and he moved to Edinburgh. A string of successful exhibitions followed in Edinburgh, London, Hong Kong, Johannesburg and New York.

Jack is the most successful and popular Scottish artist in history. Recognition has come not only through astonishing sales of his work, but in a variety of other ways too; he has been awarded an OBE, holds an honorary degree from the University of St Andrew’s, and his private collectors range from his compatriot Robbie Coltrane to Hollywood superstar Jack Nicholson. When his famous painting “The Singing Butler” sold for £744,800 at the Sotheby’s Spring Sale he became the subject of a BBC South Bank Show entitled
‘The People’s Painter’.

Jack’s latest collection displays all the qualities that have made Vettriano into a household name – his nostalgic subject matter, enigmatic narrative detail, and unmistakable use of colour combine to give the viewer the strange but pleasurable sensation of having stepped into the opening scene of a film noir.

Ivan’s greatest passion is art, because “it allows the artist to create the impossible…”. Thus, he continues to create a world of possibilities. Each of Ivan’s work, has a unique signature of eyevan. The eye represents the the concept of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, where each individual has a different perception of beauty. “I hope my paintings have opened your eyes and change your look on life…” says Ivan.

“Art is beyond an image of perception and creativity. Art is part of the past, present, future, where one can interpret their own view. Painting allows me as an artist to express my strengths or my vulnerability. Each brushstroke builds up a story, a life and, a passion.”

Owning a piece of art is beyond the physical canvas itself, but owning a piece of time.

As a child Nick loved getting out and exploring the surrounding countryside where he grew up, in Oxfordshire. At home his parents would say that he ‘lived in a world of his own”. But what he was really doing was playing visual games, making pictures in his mind of the world around. 

Nick went on to study art and design at Oxford Brookes, followed by graphic design at London College of Printing and then fine art at Cheltenham College of Art. Here he immersed himself in painting – making the daydreams real with shape and form and colour.

Nick won the Lloyds Bank Young Printmaker Prize in 1983. Since then Nick has exhibited work in galleries throughout the UK and in Europe and has paintings in public and private collections throughout the world.

The prevalent theme in Nemo’s work is travel and the discovery of the beauty and excitement of new places. His distinctive images draw together the charm and mood of several famous cities at once to create a dreamlike memory of time and space in a fascinating combination of mixed media.

Nemo Colesnicenco grew up in Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova. This Eastern European nation is known for its rich artistic heritage. Nemo, as he is known to his friends, remembers being fascinated by the carvings and other craftworks that surrounded him. In particular he loved paintings and from an early age he was determined to become an artist.

Nemo began intense inquiry into the style and techniques of the famous painters and formed a particular interest in the work of the Surrealists. He enrolled in art school but did not enjoy the strict academic style of the Russian based academy and abandoned his traditional training in favour of practical experience. His talent flourished and soon he was organizing large outdoor art fairs to show his work and that of other young artists.

At this point Nemo enlisted in the Soviet Army where he served for two years. After completing his tour of duty he returned to his artistic career, and together with a good friend he started a successful business restoring works of art and painting murals in churches.

The ever increasing freedom in their country inspired the desire to travel in many Russian citizens, and Nemo and his family moved to Canada.They settled just north of Toronto and Nemo felt himself to be at a gateway to the world. Nemo’s work is widely collected and is represented in galleries throughout Canada and the USA.

Born in 1962 to a working class Manchester family, I grew up in a warm family surrounding with honest values. I left school with few qualifications but with a great love of art. However, I was encouraged to learn a trade so ‘I would always have something to fall back on’. I became a Butcher. After a wide and varied career path I eventually pursued the artistic path and became a Graphic Designer. I bought the various computer packages along with an Apple Mac and taught myself. I was lucky enough to gain access into the Commercial Art world and I stayed there, learning from mistakes and increasing in knowledge and experience for about 12 years. Meantime I was developing my illustration skills and learning different Medias until I felt I was good enough to sell some of my paintings.

For years after that I concentrated on perfecting my watercolour skills and felt that this was the path for me. I was quite a successful watercolour artist for many years and was pushed by a friend who has a gallery in Somerset to try out acrylics. This I did, and to my surprise I absolutely loved them. I have no formal training in art so I have had to learn by my own mistakes, yet I would have it no other way as I feel that this is the best way of developing your own technique. I am married with two fabulous children and one grandson, who all keep my feet on the ground. We moved to Somerset in 1999 which was fabulous for my artistic inspiration, as the colours and the local sounds of the country really help to free up my mind.

An accomplished artist from an early age, Mark gained a degree in Fine Art from Epsom Art College. Upon graduating, he joined the family landscape gardening business whilst at the same time enrolling at agricultural college in order to further his skills in this area. Eventually his great love of painting encouraged him to follow his instincts and devote himself full time to his art.

Mark has always been influenced by the work of Degas and the Impressionists. Although he produces superb original pastels he is now moving more towards exclusive use of oils. He is also currently exploring some exciting new avenues in terms of subject matter. Mark’s technical mastery of his chosen medium enables him to create images which exude atmosphere through his use of texture and deep, rich colours. A regular exhibitor at the Mall Galleries in London, he also enjoys phenomenal international success and cites Jeffrey Archer and Bamber Gascgoine amongst his celebrity collectors.

In 1993 Mark was awarded the coveted Patterson Award presented by the Royal Pastel Society of which he is a member, and he has since been invited to join the prestigious Royal Water-Colour Society and the Royal Oil Institute.

My love of using my hands to make things definitely comes from her side of the family.

My first introduction to clay came at the age of 7, in Mr Smart’s art class. For my first piece I made a swan. I absolutely loved working in this medium; there was, and still is for me, a touch of magic in this process; where the cold, grey, malleable clay turns into a hard ceramic, that can last a thousand years. Due to the specialist nature of working with clay (requiring a kiln), after school I only came into contact with this medium at evening classes. I didn’t know any artists and never dreamed back then that earning a living producing art would have been possible for me.

Upon leaving school, I went to university in Edinburgh to study French, then embarked on a number of careers, starting with retail management at Marks & Spencers in Brighton, then working as a residential social worker in Hounslow, before deciding to study for a primary teaching qualification in Bristol. My daughter Alex and eldest son Peter were born in Bristol, and Stephen arrived a little later when we moved down to Exeter.

It wasn’t until we moved up to Leeds in 2000 that I did some soul-searching about what I really wanted to do, and enrolled to do a BTEC at Harrogate College in 3 Dimensional Design, specialising in ceramics. My tutor, David Oxley, was inspirational; he instilled in me a proactive approach to create work in clay and gave me the confidence to push boundaries with this medium.

Supply teaching has allowed me the flexibility to earn a wage whilst developing my sculpture, but my greatest ambition is to be able to devote all my time and energy to my art.

Malcolm’s roots are firmly planted in the North East of England, an area whose character and landscape has been defined by its industrial history. His forefathers were lead miners working the seams on bleak Alston Moor, and successive generations coal mined in Tynedale and close to Newcastle. Malcolm himself was born in the Elswick district of Newcastle in 1944, and lived and worked for much of his life near to the city. For the past twenty years he has lived in a market town in Northumberland.

Malcolm’s passion for painting has always been an integral part of his life. In his early career as a teacher his interest in art took up much of his spare time, and in more recent years he has occupied three galleries in the North East and has devoted more and more time to his painting. He holds regular solo exhibitions all over the UK, and one such exhibition, ‘A Glimpse of the Great North’, was televised by the BBC.

Much of Malcolm’s work has arisen from the industrial history of his local area. His love of these locations and his genuine admiration for the scenes and characters he recreates comes across in the strong sense of community and camaraderie that defines all of his highly evocative work. It is the honesty of his approach that sets his work apart from his contemporaries however; he has an extraordinary ability to convey the reality of everyday life and the atmosphere of each scene, rather than simply to recreate the literal image.

“For me my personal identity has always been linked with a sense of social togetherness which was so much a part of my own childhood, and it is this sense of loyalty and shared experience that I aim to capture in my paintings.

The son of an art historian and lecturer, Lucien Vin was brought up in Paris, Florence and later, Rome. Visiting galleries and talking about art was always a part of his life, and he still recalls his first visit to the Musée Rodin where he was introduced to great sculptural works of art.

On completing his formal education, Vin was encouraged by his
parents to travel around Europe with a group of French students; a month away turned into two amazing years immersed in viewing, discussing and creating art. Newly inspired, the young artist returned to his home in 2000 and continued to paint and sculpt, supporting himself by running research projects for a colleague of his father’s. After showing his work locally, a small gallery offered to mount a solo exhibition. Vin was overwhelmed by the response of his compatriots and set about fulfilling a number of commissions he had received.

Local press coverage and the artistic grapevine spread news of his talent, and by the end of 2002, Vin had set up his own studio. Still influenced by some of the greatest names in history, he has brought his own artistic voice to the classic genre of figurative sculpture, and his thoughtful contemporary pieces evoke a sense of stillness and contentment.

Vin has now exhibited all over Europe and his sculptures are in great demand with both individual and corporate collectors.

Lesley Thiel shies away from the description ‘equestrian artist’. Although she is renowned for her extraordinary paintings of horses, her compositions could perhaps be better described as portraits, conveying the individual traits of each magnificent subject.

Although she was born and educated in England, Lesley has lived most of her adult life in Germany, Switzerland and the USA. Having originally trained as a scientist and worked in various fields of scientific research, she formed her love of horses while visiting a friend’s Stud in the United States. Despite her early love of painting and drawing, it took this encounter with an inspirational subject to reignite her passion for art, and it was here that she once again began to paint. Taking the spirited Arabian horses around her as her subject, she was soon producing work of great power and drama.

In Lesley’s own words: “I have always loved natural life forms and the beauty of the natural world. It was spending time around Arab horses that finally inspired me to follow my dream and start painting and drawing again. Their intelligence, grace and elegance captivated me. I didn’t just want to watch horses, I wanted to commemorate their beauty and grace, to pay tribute to them as individuals and share this with others through my work”.

Lesley’s work has been exhibited at Mall Galleries and all over the UK and the USA. Her opinions are also valued in the academic world and she has delivered several guest lectures on art at British universities.

The Creative Day…
My day begins with the demands of my young family for early morning attention, but once they are off to school, I go straight to work. I own a gallery near my home, which has a spacious and well lit attic, and this provides the perfect location for my studio. I find myself unable to function without a cup of coffee and a nice substantial breakfast, and I have this when I arrive as I open the mail and start to formulate my plans for the day. As anyone who is familiar with my work will know, I tend to paint each individual picture with a very specific palette, employing a range of shades of one dominant colour. Once I know what I am working on, I prepare my palette carefully as I believe the precise shades I work with are integral to the character of the finished composition. Then (after another coffee I’m afraid!) I begin to paint, and tend to work flat out until around 5pm.

The Creative Impulse…
I have a definite penchant for tropical seas and exotic skies acquired on my travels, and they have been a hugely inspirational factor in my work. I do love to see new places and would go anywhere in the world to capture that perfect moment, but my young family prohibits too much of this luxurious pastime just at present! In spite of spending so many hours gazing out at ocean panoramas, my sheer wonderment has never faltered; I love the uniqueness of ever-changing cloud formations, and am constantly amazed by the differences in the seascape caused by the passage of time throughout the day. I get a huge amount of pleasure from painting what is beautiful, and I hope what appeals to me appeals to others.

I have always enjoyed looking at the work of other artists, and greatly admire the work of my own father. In terms of creative influences however, I would simply have to credit the natural elements!

The Creative Process…
Before I start on a new composition I need to form a definite view of my intentions, and make a decision on the colours I will be working with. Once I have prepared my palette and know the direction I will be taking, I am ready to go. I do paint quite aggressively – a fact that often surprises people as the images I create are generally peaceful. I like to view my pictures as colour in motion however, and I believe it is the energy and spontaneity involved in the act of creation that gives them their visual impact. I am able to work in this way because of the quick drying nature of acrylic paints – they allow me to finish each composition with minimum delay and maximum honesty.

Background…
Jonathan was born in Leeds in 1959. As a child he always loved to paint and stood in awe of his father, a professional artist. He always felt he was destined to follow in his father’s footsteps, but after leaving school found himself working in a variety of jobs, and finally finding a creative position as an interior designer. He knew that this was not the life for him however, and eventually resigned from his job to go travelling, financing his journey with money raised from selling his work along the way. The realisation that he was able to sell his work so easily filled Jonathan with confidence and resolve, and he returned home to Yorkshire to open a gallery. Surrounded by artwork that he admired and seeing the positive response of his customers encouraged him to paint some of his best ever work. After six years in the gallery, Jonathan felt it was time to move on and took the bold step of dedicating himself full-time to painting. His new found confidence led him to abandon his methodical style in favour of more spontaneous “free painting onto canvas and board. He found this new approach to be stimulating and exciting, and has never looked back. In 1999, Jonathan was elected a Fellow of the British Society of Painters and the International Guild of Artists, and in 2003 he was shortlisted for the Fine Art Trade Guild award for Best Up and Coming Artist. His work is held in private collections and galleries throughout the UK, Europe and the USA, and his celebrity collectors include Dawn French and Lenny Henry.

When, as a boy of nine, attempting to put paint on canvas I was so excited so desperate to convey my appreciation of the vibrant colour that seemed to be all around me.

It’s still the same today, 41 years later. My brushes have evolved from the matchsticks that I chewed into little brush-like ends but that same child-like excitement makes me shiver when I see a Venetian Blue or a shimmering light dancing through some trees.

I served my apprenticeship on the streets of Glasgow, where I grew up, and the river Clyde was my constant inspiration; Many’s the time I would be down there painting Jamaica Bridge at night with my Miners torch on my head so as to see the colours. This practice has continued through the years with night studies of Paris, Venice and Edinburgh. I owe a great deal to the old masters, the French Impessoinists, the Scottish Colourists and to David Donaldson. David was the head of drawing and painting at the Glasgow School of Art and I benifited from his great wisdom and eperience. He was a magnificent Portrait painter and was the Queens Limner for Scotland. He gave me my first official Portrait comission when in 1975 I painted the senior Magistrate of Glasgow (Counc. Gerald McGrath).

I’m not going to ramble on about the techniques of painting – I’d just like to say that I feel privileged to be able to make a living as a professional Artist and I will always strive to paint with feeling, passion and honesty.

The Creative Day…
My days are very different depending on whether I am working in the studio or on location. I travel all over the West Highlands and islands in search of new subject matter, and once a month I take an extended trip, spending the majority of my time on the islands at present. These are wonderful days spent exploring what I believe to be some of the world’s most dramatic and beautiful coastlines, storing up images for future compositions. In comparison to this, working in my Argyll studio may sound less exciting – 8am-3pm six days a week painting – but in fact these days are also immensely pleasurable, as painting is what I love to do. The one drawback to this rewarding existence is spending most evenings dealing with the extraordinary amount of admin I seem to generate!

The Creative Impulse…
I have never seen anything to compare with the distinctive quality of Scottish West Coast light, and it is this that provides the single greatest inspiration for my work. It brings a dazzling clarity to the landscape it illuminates, which I constantly strive to capture in my paintings. I have visited some exceptionally beautiful areas over time and painting on location has provided an immense source of inspiration. More than ever I have found the colour spectrum seeming to shift as I look more closely at a scene, and as always my palette has been a profoundly expressive tool in conveying both appearance and atmosphere.

I admire a huge number of artists across the whole spectrum of art history but my main creative influences are the Expressionists, particularly Chaim Soutine, Emil Nolde and Oskar Kokoschka. Each of these individuals presents a world vibrating with energy and movement, and they in their turn owe much to the dynamic work of Vincent Van Gogh, as do I. For sheer beauty of colour and interpretative freedom I hold Marc Chagall in high regard, while the great John Eardley’ s dictum that ‘Painting is like breathing – you have to do it’ is the ruling precept of my life!

The Creative Process…
A picture begins for me when I find a particular vista that captures my imagination. I used to paint on location but found that the technical side would take over and I would produce an accurate representation of what I saw, rather than of how I felt about what I saw. Nowadays, while I sketch and photograph to keep the image fresh in my mind, what is more important to me is how I responded to what I saw, and what effect it had on me personally. This emotional or perhaps creative response is what I believe breathes life into my work.

I am an energetic and spontaneous painter, and for this reason I like to use oil, even though I think it is one of the more difficult media to work with. With this spontaneity so integral to my style I like the immediacy it gives me, in that I do not have to wait for each layer to dry. Oil painting has moved on from the laborious process of old of course, where layers of glazes were laid down in a painstaking and orderly manner! Now, the way an individual artist handles the paint and the surface texture of the painting are recognised as making a huge contribution to the overall impact of the composition.

Background…
John Lowrie Morrison was born in Glasgow in 1948, and from an early age he showed a talent for art. After completing a degree in Drawing and Painting at Glasgow School of Art he set out to pursue a career in art and design; he funded his painting by teaching, firstly as Head of Art and Design at Lochgilphead High School and then as Art Adviser for the Strathclyde Region. During this formative period John travelled extensively around Europe with his family and it was here that he began to develop the distinctive style which has brought him so much success. Working in oil on paper or canvas, his vigorous application of paint in carefree, seemingly random strokes breaths life into his work, which contrasts the rugged scenery of the Scottish Highlands with the more prosaic human elements of crofts, inlets and villages. His bold use of colour adds an energy and intensity to each image which persuades us not simply to view the landscape, but rather to experience it. John now devotes himself to painting full time, and has held a number of successful exhibitions both in the UK and as far afield as Hong Kong and New York; his images can now be found in many prestigious private and corporate collections throughout the world. He is well known for his charity work and his paintings have become famous with the stars; Madonna has six in her collection and Sting has also purchased two.

Born in Glasgow in 1952, Joe Hargan studied drawing and painting at the Glasgow School of Art. Joe has exhibited regularly since the early 1970′s at such prestigious venues as London’s Royal Academy, the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Glasgow Institute of Art, the Royal Society of Watercolors, the Royal Scottish Academy of Art, the Paisley Art Institute and the British Watercolor Society. In 1985 he became a member of the Paisley Art Institute and in 1989 he was voted Chairman and President, a post he held for 11 years. In 1996 Joe was awarded the Paisley Art Institute diploma for the quality of his paintings and his service to Scottish art.

Joe’s paintings, while remarkable for their diversity, are immediately recognisable and follow the rich tradition of vibrant, bold colourist Scottish paintings. He draws inspiration from many sources ranging from Italian renaissance art through to the vast tracts of colour seen in the work of Mark Rothko. The well-loved character ‘Sniffy’ has been a feature of his images for many years, and is now known and collected the world over.

In the course of his long and successful career Joe has been awarded a significant number of art prizes reflecting and rewarding the quality and breadth of his talent, as follows: Contemporary Painting Prize, Glasgow School of Art, 1972 First Prize, National Competition – Stirling Smith Art Gallery, 1978 Cargill Art Award, Royal Glasgow Institute, 1982 Torrance Award, Royal Glasgow Institute, 1984 Meyer Oppenheim Award, Royal Scottish Academy of Art, 1986 Hunting Art Group Prizewinner, Mall Galleries, 1988 The Paisley Art Institute Award, 1993 The Contemporary Fine art award, The Paisley Art Institute, 2001 Maude Gemmell Hutchison Prize, Royal Scottish Academy of Art 2002 William Bowie Award, Paisley Art Institute 2002 His work is shown all over the world and his collectors range from the Kuwaiti Royal Family to the BBC.

The ethereal bronze sculptures of Imogen Palmer combine the qualities of classical elegance with contemporary style. Despite the gracious lines and traditional choice of medium, these exquisite figures call to mind the modern beauties of the new millennium rather than the more formal artistic figures of a bygone age.

Imogen was born in London in 1980 into a world dominated by art. Her mother was a talented painter and sculptress who worked only to private commissions for her own pleasure, spending most of her time with her three young children. Her father was a music historian, and the family spent many happy summers travelling around Europe attending concerts and opera, and learning about the world. While her brothers were shepherded around scores of galleries, protesting all the way, Imogen was mesmerised by the art she was shown in the Uffizi, the Prado and the Louvre, and her artistic education was given a strong foundation.

After completing a degree in Fine Art, Imogen embarked on a journey of her own, travelling the world for two years before settling in Paris. Here she undertook to study drawing, painting and sculpture while supporting herself with a combination of jobs. As time passed she began to sell her work into some of the city’s smaller independent galleries and gradually built herself a reputation as an exciting young sculptress.

Imogen now divides her time between Paris and London, and her work is shown in galleries and private collections across Europe.

Outstanding Russian painter Igor Shulman is one of Eastern Europe’s most highly-acclaimed figurative artists. His breathtaking images demonstrate the fascination he has always felt for the female form and he paints women with a sympathy and understanding that few contemporary artists can hope to rival.


Igor trained at the prestigious Vnetsianov Art College where he was encouraged to appreciate the whole pantheon of artists who had gone before him. His work betrays the influences of Degas and Modigliani, two artists for whom he expresses a profound admiration. His key source of inspiration is however the women in his life; his muses are many – friends family, lovers, or models – any woman who demonstrates the quality of grace may be a subject for him.


Technically skilled and highly trained, Igor creates his magnificent oil paintings in a manner which combines classical method with contemporary interpretation. He has earned a formidable reputation and his work has been shown in over 30 major exhibitions across Europe.

When equestrian artist Huw Williams and his wife Jane moved to Scotland in the late 1990s, they were the first couple ever to appear on the hit television programme ‘Location, Location, Location’. Huw had grown up in North Wales, studied for a Degree in Art Illustration at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and lived in Leicester and Manchester, and the time felt right to retreat north of the border. They looked for, and found, a home where Huw could produce his stunning large scale oil paintings, Jane could run her equestrian business and their daughter could learn to ride.

Classically trained, but originally set on a career as a magazine-illustrator in England, Huw decided to go back to his first love, painting, at the same time as the family acquired their first thoroughbred. “Jane bought Mia in the early 1990s and I began sketching her straight away,” Huw recalls. “Then, as friends saw my work around the place requests for other horse portraits started coming in and before long I found I was busy painting all day long”.

Working in his huge old farm studio Huw has built up a serious reputation as one of our finest equestrian artists. His stylish and stylised compositions hold a unique place on the market and have sold to private and corporate collectors all over the UK.

Contemporary Californian painter Henry Asencio has emerged as one of the most intriguing young artists working today. His compositional style refers to the classical ideals of figurative painting, but merges introspection and visual spectacle with unmistakable modernity. His highly personal investigations of the female figure are characterised by open brushwork, sweeping colour, bold use of texture and great technical precision; qualities that have earned him an impressive range of international accolades.

Henry graduated with honours from the San Francisco Art Academy in 1998. He was a chosen finalist in an Artist’s Magazine competition that same year for his work in portraiture, but as time went on he became more concerned with creating a mood and aesthetic context as opposed to replicating a scene or an image. Naturally drawn to painting the human figure for what he describes as “its timeless sensitivity”, he is noted for the sensual vitality of his work. Influenced by themes of transformation and spontaneous beauty, his stated aim is to explore the essence of a mood and create work that is striking yet simple.

Henry proclaims an admiration for individuals who have chosen their own path. Inspired by the works of British artist Lucien Freud, the grandson of Sigmund Freud, he is also motivated by the “unbelievable vision, work ethic and unrelenting passion” of Pablo Picasso. Other notable inspirations include Willem de Kooning for, “making every stroke of the brush different” and Gustav Klimt for, “making decorative painting with integrity”.
The artist prefers to work in oil, believing that nothing compares to the richness and workability of the medium, and it does perfectly complement his aggressive, painterly style. He begins each composition with a ‘gesture drawing’, and then mixes colour and applies the paint according to his temperament. He uses a palette knife, thereby transforming a traditional painting into one possessing his cutting edge signature style.

A native Californian, Henry lives and works in his studio near San Jose, north of his birthplace of Los Angeles. His work is now exhibited and collected all over the world.

Background
Born in Brazil in 1960, Henderson grew up in a small village near Maringa. His talent for painting was clear from as early age, but he never considered pursuing a career as an artist. Instead he entered the banking profession and continued to enjoy painting as a hobby. By the mid 1980s however, Henderson had become convinced that art meant more to him than banking! In 1986 he moved to London in order to study painting, and to make his passion his profession. He has never looked back and now paints full time in his London studio.
A seasoned traveller, Henderson has spent time in Europe, Australia and of course his native South America. While he loves the ocean and has always found it a source of inspiration and joy, he is also a true city-dweller, and many of his most inspirational works feature scenes from the world’s most beautiful cities. Painting in acrylic, oil or watercolour on canvas, Henderson’s trademark palette utilises cool, soft tones to convey the atmosphere of his subject. His works are regularly displayed in London galleries and at international art fairs.

“I love the effect that weather has on the urban landscape and must confess to a particular fondness for the rain! Not only does it cast interesting shadows and reflections on the slick sidewalks, but it also dictates the stance of the figures. Their slightly defensive postures and hunched shoulders lend a very specific, and to my mind curiously engaging, mood to the overall scene.

Citizen of the World
Brazilian-born wanderer Henderson Cisz loves to travel the world and paint the drama and diversity of urban life. From New York to Paris, from London to Venice he has formed an intense and loving artistic relationship with these living breathing cities. Although he may have finally settled in London, Henderson’s nomadic past has left indelible imprints on his lifestyle, not to mention his artwork, as we can see by joining him for a few hours in the life of a truly cosmopolitan artist.

As early as 8am Henderson is already demonstrating the habits of a good New Yorker or Parisian, sitting back, legs crossed in a leisurely pose, enjoying a freshly ground coffee and a basket of croissants “en famille in his local café. Then it’s off to school for the younger children and back to Henderson’s delightful mews studio for him and his eldest son, who is currently going in every day to watch and learn both his father’s painting techniques and the art of studio management.

Observing Henderson at work is an education in itself. A charming and unassuming man, softly spoken and with a gentle sense of humour, he transforms when he stands before his canvas. Working from the many hundreds of photographs he takes in each location, his style is surprisingly uninhibited and the studio wall is strewn with riotous splashes of paint that have flicked from his animated brush. The room itself is equally chaotic, with rolled canvases stacked against the wall, interspersed with family photos, sketches and works in progress. Yet out of this apparent confusion emerges artwork that is beautifully resonant of the city it represents.

When he is not travelling, Henderson tends to spend the majority of his day painting in his studio which occupies a lovely West London setting close to the Thames. He admits to a great fondness for the UK, and judging by the unstoppable success of his dazzling cityscapes, we are rather fond of him too.

Henderson’s Limited Edition Prints are available on Paper or Box Canvas. His stunning Original Paintings are also available on Box Canvas.

Helen grew up in a small rural village in the Midlands. After graduating with a first class honours degree in Applied Arts she moved to Cumbria, then later to York with her partner. She took with her a great love of clay that she had acquired during her studies, and after sharing studio space with a potter in exchange for hours spent looking after a shop, she set herself up as an independent artist.

Having a family which was heavily involved in a broad range of arts and crafts, from painting to dressmaking, created an expectation of some kind of artistic future in Helen’s mind. She remembers being fascinated by the human form during her first experience of life drawing classes while studying for art A’ level, on a physical mechanical level, and also in the subtleties of body language – both of which have remained with her and still inform her artistic vision today.

Helen lists a varied range of inspirational artistic sources for her work, from Assyrian friezes and cave art to the drawings of Klimt and the clay maquettes of Rodin. She also owes a debt to the rocks around and up the many mountains she has climbed, enjoying both their aesthetics and their place in nature and history. These and many other influences go towards creating the ideas behind her sculptures.

Helen keeps a sketch/scrap book of ideas, inspiration and research, and the pieces develop from this; it may be a mood, a feeling or simply a pose that really sparks her imagination. She starts with sketches on paper and with wire – what she describes as 3D drawing – then begins to experiment with clay and glaze, altering and evaluating along the way until she is happy with the total concept. The pieces are eventually built from flat pieces of clay, curled around, joined and built up slowly in layers to form the figure; each one is made entirely by hand making them unique. Once constructed, they are dried thoroughly, fired, then glazed and re-fired to their finished state.

‘My work is concerned with the changes we go through as individuals, those personal rites of passage that connect us all. Although I am fascinated by these spiritual notions of the human condition, I am grounded by the form and physical reality of the body’s construction. I am particularly interested in the hands and feet which I see as actual agents of change, they grasp, stand, support, hold, drop, and run. People can look at my work and attribute their own memories and emotions to individual pieces. This connection and dialogue with others is very important to me, as we are all participating in the same complex scheme, and people react to one another and change.’

Hazel Soan is one of the UK’s most highly acclaimed artists. Her stunning oils are executed with a flawless technique which records every nuance of light and shadow, bringing each stylish scene to life before our eyes.

Hazel was born in 1954 and trained in London and Leicester before graduating in 1976. Since that time she has built up an exceptional list of successful solo and mixed shows both in the UK and abroad in countries as widespread as Japan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. A trained pilot, Hazel has flown a single engine aircraft all over the world and wherever she goes her sketch book goes too. A born adventurer and lover of the outdoors, she also sails from inspirational location to inspirational location, and explores more challenging terrain in her land rover.

Hazel’s work is held in private and public collections all over the world. She is well-known for her role as an Art Expert on channel 4′s popular daytime programme, Watercolour Challenge, and her two series of Splash of Colour made by Anglia TV. She is also the author of several highly-regarded books on watercolour. Hazel’s work is collected by BP, Hilton Hotels, Royal Caribbean, Ritz Club, BBC Television and many other private individuals and corporations.

“If I could wish for anything for my paintings it is that the pleasure and excitement I receive from my subjects will be experienced by those who later view them.”

Born in 1967, Fabian grew up outside Buenos Aires in a turbulent world of political upheaval during the post-Peron military regime. Such a childhood could not fail to impact on every area of his life including his artistic ethos, especially when taken in conjunction with his unconventional upbringing.

At the age of 9 he became fascinated with the paintbrush, and using watercolors and tempera he painted portraits of his friends and family. His mother, Edua Herreria, a beautiful Brazilian women, met his father, a handsome and charismatic ladies’ man, Antonio Perez, in the late 1950′s, in Campana, a small city outside Buenos Aires. They married and had four children of whom Fabian is the youngest.
Edua was the creative force in Fabian’s life and Antonio was the inspiration for his work. Fabian witnessed his father’s unorthodox and often difficult life, portraying him in his paintings as “the cool guy outside nightclubs and bordellos. Antonio owned a number of brothels and illegal nightclubs in Campana, and was frequently chased and closed down by the police. Nevertheless the young Fabian was constantly exposed to beautiful women who could seduce a man “simply by lighting a cigarette. Today we see these “ladies of the night exquisitely portrayed in many of Fabian’s paintings – memories of his youth and the nightlife he observed.
At the age of 16 Fabian was faced with the loss of his mother and 3 years later the loss of his father. The sadness and despair he experienced left him confused and searching for answers. In 1984 he had crossed paths with the greatest inspiration of his life – Sensei Oscar – who later became his teacher, master, close friend, and father figure. Heartbroken and alone, he therefore found strength and a degree of inner peace through the study of martial arts.

Then in 1987 Fabian set off on a journey that was to last until the the present day. After six months in Rio he took up residence in Padova, near Venice, where he stayed for seven years, studying with Oscar and painting daily before moving on to Okinawa, Japan. He finally decided to experience a different side of life in the USA, and in Los Angeles he worked as a busboy and a model, and ran odd jobs for Universal Studios. With his days full, he painted throughout the night and considers this the most creative period of his life.

In 2001 two art publishers and gallery owners saw and fell in love with an exhibition of Fabian’s work. They met Fabian two days later and they formed a partnership to promote, market and develop Fabian’s career as a fine artist. The collaboration was an overwhelming success; every painting Fabian created was sold immediately and the demand for his work exploded. Today his work is published by DeMontfort Fine Art in the UK.
Fabian wishes not to categorise his style as he does not want to limit himself or his work. His art is simply the passionate expression of his strong romantic feelings. Inspired by what is known in martial arts as the Muga (empty mind), Fabian finds himself in this almost meditative state of mind when he is at work, and the purity of his creativity flows. He now resides in Beverly Hills, California, where he paints, plays soccer, trains and teaches martial arts to close friends. He still travels the world for inspiration.

The Creative Influence.
When we look closely at the paintings of Fabian Perez we can see some fascinating visual signposts that point us in the direction of his influences.
The first of these is the night time setting for many of his most powerful images. This distinctive trait leads us directly to the door of his father, Antonio, who Fabian has always cited as the inspiration for his work. Antonio owned a number of bordelloes as well as other clubs and was frequently chased and closed down by the police. Thus was born the young Fabian’s fascination with the underground world of night in the city.
The second visual signpost comes from the women who appear in Fabian’s paintings. The intimacy and respect with which these “women of the night are portrayed is due in no small part to his upbringing, where he was befriended and often cared for by girls that other schoolboys were being warned against. The warmth and humanity of these women is as central to his images as their beauty and seductiveness. Like Toulouse Lautrec, whose vibrant but humorous portrayals of the Moulin Rouge cancan dancers offered us a uniquely intimate view of these extraordinary women, it is Fabian’s closeness to the reality of his subjects that sets him apart from other artists who might paint such figures from a greater distance.
Thirdly, there is the constant presence of rhythm which pervades every image, regardless of whether the subject is dancing or simply smoking on a balcony. This complete understanding of the tempo and cadences of the human body comes from two distinct areas of Fabian’s life. One is his own musicianship which is hugely important to him and connects with his artwork on a profound level. The other is his dedication to karate and the philosophy it embodies of identifying the essence of an individual and communicating that central vital spark on the canvas.

At present my life is divided into two geographical areas – Scotland in the summer and Staffordshire for the rest of the year. I love working in my Scottish studio, which is located on the beautiful Isle of Mull. When I’m there, I start each day with a dip in the (excruciatingly cold) sea, or in the pond next to my house. I then prepare for the serious business of the day by putting on some music before picking up where I left off the day before. If I don’t have a work in progress, I may sit for a while and think about all the great places I’ve seen in my life, waiting for an idea to hit me.

Born in Oxford in 1961, Duncan grew up in the Midlands where he still spends a substantial part of the year. Taking his inspiration from the surrounding landscape and of course the sea, Duncan is particularly fascinated by the effects of natural light on colour. His distinctive palette conveys the cool yet vibrant shades of sea and sky as they appear to his artist’s eye. Verging on the abstract, his work is characterised by the dense application of richly textured acrylics, which create a sense of spontaneity and unstoppable energy. Since turning professional, Duncan has enjoyed immense success, displaying his work in both galleries and private collections.

David was born in Africa and grew up in Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia. Born to a South African mother and Scottish father, he eventually moved to Scotland where he has spent his adult life. David first graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in the mid seventies and has since completed a masters degree at ECA. He is married with three grown up daughters.

David’s painting clearly suggests an intimate association with the outdoor environment. Recent paintings combine bold applications of opaque colour and subtle translucent overlays with expressive, abstract subject matter. This has resulted in fresh, vibrant work with the essential element of recognisable yet intriguing imagery.

The research for his most recent paintings embraces the landscape and rugged shores of Scotland and has substantially influenced both content and style. His interpretation and execution of each painting reflects powerfully experienced emotion and a unique personal vision.

Outstanding British artist Darren Baker has received numerous art awards including best artist at The Fine Art Trade Guild ceremony in London and The Garrick Prize, Christies, London. His contemporary paintings are increasingly sought after by International and British Art collectors and hang in both public and private art collections including those of the House of Lords, Downing Street and St James’s Palace. He is now one of the leading painters of the classical realism genre, and his style displays the influences of both the Dutch Masters and the contemporary Realist School.

Darren Baker was born in 1976. After graduating from art college he exhibited in London and at the age of 23 was invited to show his paintings at a UK millennium event in New York. In the same year he was appointed official artist of The Professional Footballer’s Association (PFA).

Darren has produced an impressive portfolio of portraits for sports clubs and personalities from the world of football as well as many other sports. He has worked alongside and produced paintings for such star names as Lewis Hamilton, David Ginola, Peter Schmeichel, Henrik Larsson, Prince Naseem, Nigel Mansell and Jonny Wilkinson, as well as PFA Footballer of the Year portraits of John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Teddy Sheringham. His non-sporting portraits include HRH Prince Charles and Tony Blair which hang in St James Palace and Downing Street respectively.

Born in Bulgaria in 1965, Darina spent much of her early life undergoing formal artistic training. Over a period of ten years she studied at the School of Fine Art and Design, and the Academy of Fine Art, specialising in silk printing and batik.

A true European, she then embarked on something of a Grand Tour, visiting England, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, where she made a thorough study of classical painting techniques and exhibited her work to receptive audiences.

The combination of a solid technical grounding and a cosmopolitan lifestyle has allowed Darina to master a wide range of styles and media. Influenced by the rhythmic lines of Schiele and the vivid palette of Matisse, her latest compositions are distinctive floral images which experiment with angles and perspectives to create an energetic interpretation of the traditional still life. She freely employs a variety of media including acrylics, watercolours, oils and pastels to great effect.

As a result of her extensive travels Darina has formed a wide network of admirers, and is regularly commissioned to paint portraits and murals for private buyers all over Europe. She has also held successful exhibitions in Belgium, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy and the UK.

The cityscapes of Csilla Orban occupy a unique position on the current art market. Although they depict specific and often recognisable locations, their particular brilliance lies in the creation of atmosphere rather than the accuracy of detail. By merging colours and blurring the reflected light in the rain-slicked streets, Csilla conveys the fast-moving essence of her chosen subject in her own distinctive way.

Csilla was born in 1961 in Budapest, Hungary. She graduated from the University of Budapest in 1984 with a Masters Degree in Art and followed this up with a year as a scholarship student in the former USSR. After spending much of her twenties travelling around Europe she finally settled in the UK.

Fascinated by these exciting foreign cultures, Csilla was inspired to paint what she saw. Her favourite place and the one which first galvanised her imagination was Paris, and she was entranced by its intimate cafes, grand boulevards and bohemian culture. She was a member and a co-secretary of the Parisian Independent Salon’s Hungarian group since 1996, where she helped several talented young artists to establish their reputation on the Hungarian art scene.

Csilla’s artistic creed is to paint ‘faithfully and with humanity’. She has participated in many international exhibitions, and in 2004 she received the ‘Genius Talent Prize’ in Budapest at the exhibition celebrating the entry of Hungary into the European Union. Eventually, after spending six months in the USA, in June 2006 she participated in a joint exhibition of contemporary painters in Texas which brought her to the notice of a wider international audience.

It is a great honour to welcome john to the breeze art galleries. We are all looking forward to the opportunity of meeting with John and to hear more about his work and inspirations.

John will be unveiling a stunning collection of original paintings and studies as well as a collection of signed limited editions.

Join us for this special event and meet for yourself this outstanding scottish artist who will share some of the stories that have shaped his creative talent over the years.

John will be appearing in Peebles, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Loch Lomond Shores. See our events section for more details.

We look forward to welcoming you into our galleries.

Summer Walk, Montpelier by John Mackie

Original Oil painting from this highly acclaimed and collectable Scottish artist.

Image Size: 151.5cm x 102cm

Price Framed: £7000

Early Spring, Peebles by John Mackie

Original oil painting of the bridge across the river Tweed looking towards the Scottish borders town of Peebles.

Image Size: 101.5cm x 76cm

Price Framed: £4650

Internationally-acclaimed artist, Duncan Macgregor, will be making a personal appearance at the Breeze Gallery, Frasers, Glasgow on Sunday 7th March 2pm until 4pm at a Champagne reception to launch his new collection. The gallery will be showcasing a series of collectable Limited Editions alongside a specially selected range of previously unseen Original Paintings.

Duncan grew up in the Midlands despite being so far inland, he managed to develop a passion for the sea, and spent a significant eighteen months sailing across the Atlantic and then around the coast of Britain. Taking his inspiration from the surrounding landscape and of course the sea, Duncan is particularly fascinated by the effects of natural light on colour. His distinctive palette conveys the cool yet vibrant shades of sea and sky as they appear to his artist’s eye. Verging on the abstract, his work is characterised by the dense application of richly textured acrylics, which create a sense of spontaneity and unstoppable energy.

Duncan’s latest collection includes a fascinating new range of artwork printed directly onto glass. Whilst his compositions have always had great drama, the almost metallic sheen and shimmering surface of the glass gives an unprecedented impact to these ultra-stylish editions ranging from evocative coastal landscapes to sailing through the wind.

To ensure that his artwork remains diverse and innovative Duncan has focused on subjects beyond seascapes and sailing. The eye-catching beach huts, near Duncan’s Norfolk home, have always attracted him and in these vibrant portrayals he has used bold colours to set them apart from previous works.

Manager, Robert, commented: “Duncan’s work has been a consistent highlight in the gallery since we opened and this new collection could not have come at a better time. We are extremely proud that he has he is coming to the gallery, and are delighted that our customers will have the opportunity to meet him and view his new work, particularly the Original Paintings.

Breeze Gallery is one of the UK’s leading independent galleries. It presents an unrivalled range of Original Paintings, collectable Limited Editions and stunning Sculpture in a stylish and luxurious setting. The art consultants at the gallery believe that buying art should be an enjoyable experience, and are always happy to offer guidance or information on anything from artist backgrounds to artwork presentation.

breeze is delighted to announce that John Mackie will be making live appearances at all of our four galleries.

A graduate of the Glasgow School of Art and an exhibitor at the Royal School of Art, John Mackie is influenced by the likes of Monet, Renoir and Pissarro. While paying homage to these great Masters and observing the rules of Impressionism and sharing its motivations, he sheds a modern light on the society he depicts.

Princes Street at Dusk, shown above, is typical of his everyday subject matter and exemplary of its roots in Impressionism.

John Mackie will be appearing at Breeze Art Studio, Jenners at Loch Lomond Shores (Sun March 28: 12pm – 2pm)

Call 01389 720 341 for more information

breeze is delighted to announce that John Mackie will be making live appearances at all of our four galleries.

A graduate of the Glasgow School of Art and an exhibitor at the Royal School of Art, John Mackie is influenced by the likes of Monet, Renoir and Pissarro. While paying homage to these great Masters and observing the rules of Impressionism and sharing its motivations, he sheds a modern light on the society he depicts.

Princes Street at Dusk, shown above, is typical of his everyday subject matter and exemplary of its roots in Impressionism.

John Mackie will be appearing at Breeze Art Gallery, Jenners in Glasgow (Sat March 27: 2:30pm – 4pm)

Call 0141 221 0189 for more information

breeze is delighted to announce that John Mackie will be making live appearances at all of our four galleries.

A graduate of the Glasgow School of Art and an exhibitor at the Royal School of Art, John Mackie is influenced by the likes of Monet, Renoir and Pissarro. While paying homage to these great Masters and observing the rules of Impressionism and sharing its motivations, he sheds a modern light on the society he depicts.

Princes Street at Dusk, shown above, is typical of his everyday subject matter and exemplary of its roots in Impressionism.

John Mackie will be appearing at Breeze Art Gallery, Jenners in Edinburgh (Sat march 27: 10:30am – 12:30pm)

Call 0131 220 2655 for more information

breeze is delighted to announce that John Mackie will be making live appearances at all of our four galleries.

A graduate of the Glasgow School of Art and an exhibitor at the Royal School of Art, John Mackie is influenced by the likes of Monet, Renoir and Pissarro. While paying homage to these great Masters and observing the rules of Impressionism and sharing its motivations, he sheds a modern light on the society he depicts.

Princes Street at Dusk, shown above, is typical of his everyday subject matter and exemplary of its roots in Impressionism.

John Mackie will be appearing at Breeze Art Gallery, Peebles (Fri March 26: 6:30pm – 9pm)

Call 01721 721 684 for more information.

Internationally-acclaimed artist, Duncan Macgregor, will be making a personal appearance at the Breeze Gallery, Frasers, Glasgow on Sunday 7th March 2pm until 4pm at a Champagne reception to launch his new collection. The gallery will be showcasing a series of collectable Limited Editions alongside a specially selected range of previously unseen Original Paintings.

Contact our Glasgow gallery now on 0141 221 0189 for further details.