My, art journey, not to be confused with my artistic journey, as I personally have never created anything.

Being born in a large cotton producing area of Greater Manchester in the early 1960’s, art was not a route that was taken by anyone, or very few, let alone a man, there was not simply a route set up for creativity to lead to financial success.

Yet, besides sport (and girls), my first memories were of Frans Hal’s ‘Laughing Cavalier’ and John Constable’s ‘Hay Wain’ - tiny reproductions in my parents house.

Dutch landscapes and portraits became a source of wonder and of the artists significant skills.

Jacob Van Ruisdael and Rembrandt triggered, in me, an appreciation and admiration for a different country, a different age and gave me a different perspective.

Then something (s) happened to me:

Salvador Dali, Charlie Chaplin and David Bowie

In the middle of the 1970’s, the grey and mundane life of a a boy from Bolton was shattered by colour, sexuality, imagination, vision, boldness, brightness and seemingly unlimited talent showed me that through creativity and imagination almost anything can be achieved.

Salvador Dali, Charlie Chaplin and David Bowie were simply icons, ground- breakers and visionaries, who as artists and through their art, broke down barriers and stereotypes, broke the mould, rewrote the route and forged and led a brighter, richer and more colourful future.

That is the power that art can have!

Fast forward to my early 20’s, I stumbled into London and spent many hours gazing at the incredible art collection at the National Gallery, starting with Dutch Landscapes, British landscapes, quickly by passing Religious and Renaissance art and ending up at the wonderful art of the French Impressionists Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh.

 

One day I would be involved in art, I thought!

 

So 20 years later I began to collect the Woodblock Prints of the Ukiyo period of ancient Japan and with little money but a desire to collect built an appreciation for the art, an admiration for the artists, a fascination for Japan’s ancient past. Through this art I began to understand Japan in the 1870’s - 1900’s. And wow what a society, rich in pathos, rich in character, rich in ethics and rich in personality, rich in colour, all held within an image or a set of images.

 

Approx ten years ago I walked into a Contemporary Art Gallery (A form new to me) and found myself instantly confronted by and attracted to the South African artist Candice Tripp, dark at times, macabre at best, skill and uniqueness in abundance, I was hooked.

Candice mixes adult themes with a hard earned yet unbelievable technical ability and piercing imagination to create images that are thought provoking, challenging, inspiring and rewarding.

Candice started my contemporary art collection and led to my ongoing and expanding art gallery. The feeling I got and get from Candice’s work is the same reaction to that of Salvador Dali, Charlie Chaplin and David Bowie had given me 35 years prior, a wonderment for artistic talent and created an admiration and appreciation for modern creators using different methods and mediums.

 

My vision as a collector and on-line gallery owner is to highlight artists that achieve something spectacular, that I can only dream of doing - the ability to imagine an image and have the skill to capture that image on canvas or other mediums.

My collection has evolved, but my aim is to have predominantly women artists in my portfolio.

 

There are a few reasons for this, perhaps their sensitivity is more appealing to me or maybe, due to having a daughter, my preference is to highlight the artistic talents of the feminine, a throw back to the male domination art had in years gone by.

 

Wikipedia describes Contemporary art as the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic combination of materials, methods, concepts, and subjects that continue the challenging of boundaries that was already well underway in the 20th century. Diverse and eclectic, contemporary art as a whole is distinguished by the very lack of a uniform, organising principle, ideology, or "-ism".

 

For me the term Contemporary Art can mean Grunge Art, Street Art, Abstract Art, Collage Art, Etching, Nature, Landscapes, practically anything and my aim has always been to showcase beauty in all of its myriad forms.

So what is my advice to anyone starting an art collection or dipping their toe in the art world.

 

‘No advise’