"The still life paintings in this show developed from a series of line drawings in pencil and ink which I began about eighteen months ago. After a while I began to add colour and work on a larger scale on board or canvas, still retaining the pencil or ink line. ('Mugs and Jugs' is one of the early drawings and 'Tina’s Cat' one of the first in colour on board)

A variety of objects close to hand became the subject of these drawings. My wife Christine and I have collected ceramic pots and sculptures for many years and these naturally became a favourite theme. Our collection of ceramics began with work by the late John Lomas, an outstanding potter with whom I had several two man shows in the late 80’s and 90’s. It has grown to include pieces by both established and emerging potters - Tessa Fuchs, Andrew Niblett, Claire Ireland, John Bedding, Pru Green, Joseph File and numerous pots and sculptures by John Maltby.

So it is works by these artists, along with fruits and flowers (and quite frequently glass cherries from Murano) that I have drawn and painted.

I hadn’t really thought about the Japanese look of these paintings until I was asked earlier this year to produce a series of ten still life prints for a Japanese publisher. Three of the prints were based upon paintings in this show, 'Oranges', 'Cup, Jug and Honesty' and 'Lilies, Cherries and Maltby’s Girl'".

"Paul Klee has long been my inspiration and guide. Mr K and OKPK are homages to the man and I’m happy to admit that several of the paintings in this exhibition are influenced by his work. Since college days I have been a great admirer of Klee, to my mind by far the most imaginative and creative of twentieth century painters. Whenever I have a 'painter’s block' it is to books on Paul Klee that I turn for a way forward.

Klee spoke of 'taking a line for a walk', a way of working which allowed immediate invention. I suspect that in many of his drawings and paintings there was no plan or preconception. Although challenging, I find this approach the most rewarding when elements do fall into place, when the drawing or painting 'works', but in a new and unexpected way.

If paintings are preconceived, they become laborious to execute (I know, I went through a long realist phase - see the Miller’s Picture Price Guides 1993 -1997) and the process becomes one of craft not art, and ultimately monotonous. In order for the process to be fun it has to be a conversation between the artist, his materials and pure chance or happy accident. And painting has to be enjoyable - or why do it? The process is one of continuous discovery and change. Of course there can be problems and disappointments, but new approaches must be tried and risks taken or life would be dull.

While some paintings are pure invention, others start with thoughts of things seen (people, landscape, architecture) or of experiences and events. But the pleasure of painting comes when the work takes on a life of its own, when each mark or shape placed on the paper determines the next move, and I can just follow and with luck create a painting which encapsulates my memories of a place or time.

Since my last show at Courcoux & Courcoux, Christine and I have been to Italy a number of times, to Venice, to Tuscany and to Basilicata and Puglia in the south of the country. Several of the paintings in the show are about Italian places and landscapes, either remembered or imagined. Some paintings are memories of the extraordinary trogladite town of Matera in southern Italy. The 'piazza' series shows an old Tuscan village centre (centro storico) as in a dream".

The reliefs and assemblages had two starting points. Some developed from three-dimensional interpretations of Klee’s Magic Square paintings, some from playing with the figurative possibilities of a collection of driftwood and random found objects. In some cases the two strands merge, as in for example A Sense of Direction.

Using driftwood and found objects, images are suggested that could in no way be foreseen or predicted. They are inevitably unique. The materials guide you to the image. I am in the hands of chance, looking for something new".

Frank Taylor

Frank Taylor studied Fine Art at Bucks, Cardiff and Brighton Colleges of Art and Design. He combined careers in art education, illustration and graphic design for many years. In 1990 he left his head of department position at Salisbury College of Art & Design in order to travel and to paint.

Since that time he has had several solo shows in this country as well exhibiting in galleries and art fairs in Europe, South Africa and the USA. He has exhibited with the RWS, RBA, RSMA, ROI, NEAC and RI and has been a finalist in the Sunday Times, Laing and Hunting painting competitions.

Prints and posters of his work are published by CCA Galleries, The Art Group and other leading fine art publishers. His work is represented in several public collections in this country and in private and corporate collections worldwide.

Click here to see details of Frank Taylor's last exhibition at Courcoux & Courcoux

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