One Day I Awoke

Kevin was born and raised in Plymouth. He studied Mining Geology at Imperial College, London. After periods working in outdoor education, he went offshore as roughneck, mudlogger, drilling engineer and Directional Driller working in the North Sea and all over the world. He studied part-time ceramics at Sir John Cass College then an HND in Studio Ceramics at Camborne then Falmouth College of Art and Design. During this period he also worked as prop maker and stage carpenter in Plymouth and London including Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in order to fund the course. In 1989 he completed a PGCE in Art and Design at Bretton Hall College and went on to teach Art for 2 years before heading back to the rigs.He has worked and lived in Russia and Sub-Sahara Africa before returning to Plymouth in 2010.

 

My paintings and drawings may appear quite separate but show a coherence when seen together. Much of my drawing is centred on projects which have all involved Trees and their surrounds. The drawings often utilise materials specific to those locations, particularly hand-making charcoal from the subject trees and using it in the drawings. The drawings themselves have to express something about the nature of the subjects, beyond a surface appearance; beyond mere depiction, searching for an essential liveliness. My paintings, on the other hand, are predominantly concerned with industrial subjects referring back to a large part of my life spent on oil rigs. My influences come directly through those experiences with rocks, corrosion, oil rigs and graft as well as external references to LANDSAT imagery and photomicrographs of rock thin sections.

 

Since redundancy in 2015 he has been continuously painting and drawing. He is a member of The Arborealists.

 

Oil on Canvas

93x118cm