Kevin Emmerson finds inspiration from colour and form in everyday sights; from wide countryside vistas with big brooding skies, to the detail of beautiful engineering or from the many years he spent flying over land, sea and cloud. He is as happy penning fine detail into the drawing of a helicopter as he is painting wide arcs of acrylic colour onto a large canvas.
Kevin’s exhibition work for Artweeks 2022 is varied and reflects a number of themes he has worked on over the past year. He often paints to commission but is always looking to expand his techniques and style, so he creates speculative pieces with different themes in between. This gives room to explore areas outside his comfort zone and brings a confidence to his work that keeps it fresh and exciting.
Having recently returned to Oxfordshire, this is Kevin’s second exhibition in 6 months and his first with Oxfordshire Art Weeks.
Kevin Emmerson is an Oxfordshire-based, Army and RAF veteran-turned-artist, who had a rewarding, varied and accomplished career in aviation. When he stopped flying, he revisited a long-held passion for drawing and painting. Initially creating a personal record of the helicopters he had flown, Kevin soon discovered a strong demand for his work.
Later, when searching for a looser form of expression, he saw the potential of Acrylic paint and large canvasses. Guided by a handful of courses, plenty of experimentation, study and some mentoring from professional artists, he now has a second, very different outlet for his creativity. In contrast to the accuracy and discipline of his aviation work, Kevin finds a more relaxed pleasure in creating larger-scale, vibrant abstracts, landscapes and mood pieces which have been in demand from those seeking a contemporary artwork, a statement-piece or a mood-setting colour-theme.
Kevin is increasingly interested in the way in which colour can enhance mood and potentially affect behaviour and his larger, colour-themed pieces have been lauded for their effect of creating a calming sense of space and 'freedom'.
Kevin's aviation work is found in private collections and public buildings in Australia, Canada, Europe, UK, USA, Middle East and Far East - with a good number of pieces hanging in homes and offices around RAF Benson… Kevin's larger canvasses have travelled less far but he has been especially pleased to have sold to private collectors and worked with Interior Designers across the South.