Neil Mawdsley Artist Profile
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OK.. so I'm quite old...but I didn't
used to be. The odd thing is, I like loads of
stuff youngsters like ie pop concerts, techno stuff..mp3's Snow Patrol,
Keane.. even went to a James Blunt concert recently....oops!
but I am old...just qualified for a bus pass...my toes are beginning to curl
up...and I have made a will.
Early Days I was born in Oldham, Lancashire at the end of the second- world- war. We lived in a small end terraced house in the shadow of a large cotton mill . Outside my front door were cobbled stones and every morning the mill hooter would boom out, machinery clank, and the sound of clogs echo everywhere, as droves of people, some in shawls and caps, threaded past my bedroom window, to start another days work. My mother worked in a cotton mill for a while, and my father was a foundry foreman, patternmaker and engineer for Platt Bros-a large textile engineering firm, but also worked in aircraft engineering. I trained as a schoolteacher and moved to Plymouth, Devon around 30 years ago. In 1997 The Sunday Independent newspaper placed me as 'one of the six leading painters in Plymouth', not my words but theirs. Plymouth has in fact many, many artists, and still seems to attract them, although you wouldn't think so. I do now have a deeper confidence in my own artwork. I have never pushed my image forward. I have kept my work to local galleries. I value my family and the balance of time they and I need with each other to survive this present hectic world. I work via commissions mainly now with the odd solo exhibition. I love to paint landscapes and seascapes and find the areas around Plymouth inspirational. That said, I experiment endlessly with many types of media and techniques. I have always enjoyed painting and drawing. I think I turned to it more when my schoolwork became more stressfull. I learned much from local Plymouth art groups and the tutor Claude Kitto. I was also chairman of Plymouth Arts Club for a while. I do quite a lot of adult education work . Some I privately run and some for colleges.I also demonstrate for art groups in the South West of England. Most of the students grapple with the problem of watercolours. At the moment I am putting my knowledge and experience of this medium into tailor made worksheets for internet students as well. The sheets can be bought on eBay. Watercolour lessons at my eBay shop Some years ago I became interested in shipwrecks and created an illustrated chart: Shipwrecks of Plymouth Sound. This has been successful and has reached international buyers around the world. I now have just less than a hundred left. Shipwrecks around Looe and Polperro was my second chart and has taken me over two years to complete, with loads of research involved. I could rattle on for longer, but you have probably had enough by now. Neil
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