About the exhibition

It is always our greatest pleasure to host an exhibition for an artist and thereby be the very first to see a new body of work laboured over for many months. Our eighth exhibition with Andrew Talbot promises to be just as exciting as ever with a wonderfully diverse selection of beautifully executed oil paintings. Subjects this time as always are varied and include farm animals, garden flowers, oysters, musical instruments, toy cars and even a teddy bear. Every composition is very carefully considered and brilliantly painted and the results are quite breathtaking.

Painting full time for Beckstones since 2002, it has been a delight to see Andrew develop and mature as a painter and hugely satisfying to see demand for his work soar year on year as collectors from far and wide clamour to get their hands on one of his rare paintings. He possesses a remarkable ability to not only find the perfect subject, but then to paint it quite beautifully with his trademark use of rich colour, incredible detail and intrinsic light.

Born in 1972, Andrew was just 15 years old when he painted his first oil painting and, inspired by such great artists as Caravaggio, Ingres, Stanhope Forbes and William Whitehouse, he went on to graduate with a degree in Fine Art (Painting) from Loughborough College of Art. After setting up as a signwriter whilst continuing painting in his spare time, it soon became clear that a successful career as a professional artist beckoned. Every painting delivered to the gallery was bought almost instantaneously and Andrew has never looked back with a succession of sell out exhibitions and a multitude of awards.

Andrew lives and works in his native Lancashire with his wife Susie and their two children Grace and Tom.

A word from Andrew

Thankfully most artists are different to professional athletes in that they continue to improve rather than being over the hill at the age of 30! The decades of time spent at the easel and the experience of being immersed in a world of creativity hopefully allow artists to bring all this to the fore.

In this, my eighth solo exhibition, I have challenged myself to create some of my most ambitious works of my career to date. The three largest paintings have taken almost five months to complete, with the aim of pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved with the illusion of oil on board.

This year I have been fortunate enough to be able to paint a couple of paintings for the show in a stripped-back, simple studio in Provence surrounded by French objects that have influenced a number of timeless still lifes in this collection.

Other still lifes tap into the memory of items discovered in the attic or a favourite game or toy from the past. Others are of a more romantic theme, the passage of time of a love shared or a special evening out.

My farming childhood still influences me to this day and the two animal subjects in this show share the same sunset over their landscape creating a warm, backlit glow.

So, I hope that you enjoy this collection of work and the themes that it evokes.

Thank you to Niki and Karen who continue to work hard to put on a professional
show and above all to Susie, Grace and Thomas for their patience and support.