Painting and drawing have always been important to me, and, whilst I have made my living through commercial sculpture, I have pursued painting through a simple desire to improve and to make better paintings. Drawing is an important tool to complement the commercial sculpture work, and it is my belief that an ability to draw is at the root of any good quality artwork.
Whilst my academic qualification (BA Hons First Class) is in ceramic sculpture, as part of the degree course I took the opportunity to study painting at the renowned Burslem School of Art under Arthur Berry and Campbell Bruce.
In recent years I have been able to devote more time to fine art, which is why I have added a gallery of this work to my web site.
My aim is to make visually exciting, edgy, original artworks. My starting point is usually portraiture or figure painting, but I try to get away from 'straight' paintings, primarily by using a very loose technique to the point where the brush marks are as important as the image they represent.
In some paintings, particularly the self portraits, I am exploring the point where the marks are just on the edge of making the image. Another approach is to start with the figure and then to develop abstract qualities of the composition. Always I want to work experimentally. I find the face/figure starting point very useful, but the abstract quality of the composition is my main goal.
My work can be seen at the Tom Zaw gallery at 4 The Pavilion, High Street, Hoddesdon EN11 8UB. Click
here to view a location map.