Often it’s hard to imagine the scale or impact of a piece in your room -

How will it look outside a gallery setting with different lighting and furniture?
This feature will hopefully give you a taste of how something will look and feel in a sitting room, bedroom or office space.

A chat with David in the studio

My paintings offer ‘glimpsed’ or half-remembered figures and faces – ‘re-imagined ancestors' recovered from a personal archive of the forgotten

Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you came to be a full time painter? 

I was one of the lucky ones who had an inspiring art teacher at school (St.Bees in Cumbria). His name was Peter Broadhurst and he opened a Pandora’s Box for me when I was 13 years old, and for the next 4 years he taught me how to paint and how to decide what to paint. He was also instrumental in getting me accepted by the prestigious Hornsey Art College in London, which was another major stepping stone on my journey to becoming a full-time artist.

What other artists have inspired and influenced you throughout your career.

 Gerhart Richter was my hero early on, then later it was Walter Sickert and Turner. I discovered Peter Doig about 10 years ago. These are the 3 artists who influence me the most – ohhh and Thomas Gainsborough!

Without giving away any secrets! …… can you tell us a little bit about your working methods. 

 I paint in an expressionistic way using rags and sponges because the physical marks and textures are a fundamental element of what I am trying to achieve. The challenge for me though is to retain an economy of execution – an effortless effort.

My ideas come from material that accidentally comes to hand, an old photograph for example might chime or resonate. I then embark on a quest to unlock the essence of the image in a way that is somehow extra-visual. This journey of development and discovery can take anything from 5 days to 5 years until a kind of alchemy takes place and things seem to harmonise of their own accord in a way that can be very rewarding. 

Your work all has a dreamlike quality - they  often seem to conjure in the viewer a moment of recognition of a memory past. Are the scenes you paint autobiographical?

My paintings are an exploration of memory. They offer ‘glimpsed’ or half-remembered figures and faces – 're-imagined ancestors' recovered from a personal archive of the forgotten – but they aren’t autobiographical as such,  they are based on found-photos and so are my re-purposing of other peoples’ memories.

How have you got through lockdown, have you found it a creative time or not and what are you most looking forward to when it is all over?

 Well, I feel guilty saying it but Lockdown has been a very productive time for me and I’ve produced some of my best work. I’ve been able to paint everyday in my studio which is a converted Victorian dairy in Hove and I feel blesses. I’ve found it very important to keep busy in these difficult times.

Post lockdown I’m most looking forward to being able to socialise again, meeting friends in the pub or going for a meal. 

Who would  you hang on your wall ( money no object)….. and why? 

If you are serious it would have to be The Elgin Marbles, I go to The British Museum whenever I can to gaze open mouthed at these classical Greek marble sculptures. The figures have been beaten up over the centuries so arms and legs might be missing or even part of a head but nevertheless they seem strangely complete to me, stone ghosts staring silently and nobly into eternity. This is the mood I try and recreate in my paintings.